Wal-Mart's new CEO started there as a teen
Doug
McMillon worked his way up from a summer job at a distribution center
to head the retailer's international division.
In a surprise move, Wal-Mart (WMT) has announced its new CEO will be Doug McMillon, a 47-year-old who started out in the retail giant’s warehouse as a teen.
McMillon
will take the helm of the world’s largest retailer effective Feb. 1,
when current president and CEO Mike Duke will step down.
Duke, 63, had been rumored to be considering retirement but an obvious successor had not been floated externally.
Wal-Mart’s new CEO is the current head of Wal-Mart International, overseeing the company’s growing interests in 26 countries outside the U.S.
Wal-Mart’s new CEO is the current head of Wal-Mart International, overseeing the company’s growing interests in 26 countries outside the U.S.
McMillon
has a long history with the store chain, having started out as summer
employee in a distribution center in 1984 before heading to the
University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, one town over from the
retailer’s corporate headquarters.
In
1990, while pursuing his MBA, he rejoined the company in a Tulsa,
Okla., Wal-Mart store. He spent the intervening 23 years climbing the
ranks, mostly in merchandising positions.
Billionaire Wal-Mart
chairman Rob Walton described McMillon’s ascension to CEO as a nod to
the store chain’s “changing customer,” one that is increasingly
international.
“A merchant at heart, Doug has both a long
history with our company and a keen sense of where our customers
globally are heading next,” said Walton in a statement.
“He
has also shown strong leadership on environmental sustainability and a
commitment to using Wal-Mart’s size and scale to make a difference in
the lives of people, wherever they might be.”
McMillon sits on
the board of Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton’s Crystal Bridges Museum of
American Art as well as the board of directors at Wal-Mart Mexico.
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