Doug McMillon’s career at Walmart began when he was in high school, picking up orders and unloading trailers in the warehouse. He concludes his tenure as the retail giant’s CEO after 12 successful years.
Walmart announced Friday that McMillon will retire on January 31, 2026, after nearly 12 years at the helm of the retail giant. The 59-year-old Memphis, Tenn., native became Walmart’s fifth CEO in February 2014, but the trajectory of his career is notable: Mr. McMillon first joined Walmart as an hourly employee in 1984 and held various positions within the company as he rose through the ranks.
He was CEO and president of Sam’s Club, a Walmart company, from 2005 to 2009, and also held the same role at Walmart International from 2009 to 2014. He says his decades of experience working on various teams at Walmart have influenced his leadership philosophy.
“I think what’s been consistent[throughout my time at Walmart]is that this is a team sport, and nothing happens through individual effort,” McMillon said on the May 21 episode of the Stanford Graduate School of Management’s podcast View From The Top. “We’re all in this together, and it doesn’t matter if you’re trying to do a startup or work for a large company, that’s true.”
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When McMillon became CEO of Walmart, he prioritized “three core principles” to guide the company’s direction, he said at the Walmart shareholder meeting on June 6, 2014. “First, we will be a customer-driven company…Second, we will invest in our people…Finally, we need to be at the forefront of innovation and technology. We will be proactive and stay ahead of change.”
Walmart has been a brick-and-mortar giant for decades, and McMillon’s digital bet was met with skepticism. This also caused a massive stock price drop. In October 2015, the company lowered its full-year sales forecast after raising wages and increasing spending on e-commerce and digital platforms. As a result, the stock price fell by 10%, and Walmart lost more than $20 billion in market capitalization.
“People in the technology industry have been predicting that brick-and-mortar businesses like Walmart are going to end up having a very hard time, and I think that’s really coming to the surface today in this strong way,” Jeff Lewis, a partner at Founders Fund, told CNBC at the time.
But Walmart said McMillon’s plan ultimately paid off, as it expects its revenue to recover by fiscal year 2019. Walmart’s annual revenue has steadily increased since 2018, including during the coronavirus pandemic, when shoppers increasingly turned to mobile and web ordering as it competes with Amazon. CNBC reported Friday that Walmart’s stock price has increased nearly 300% since McMillon’s first day as CEO.
During this time, Walmart has made technological advances such as launching new fulfillment centers to process online orders and expanding its same-day and next-day pickup programs for customers using mobile devices. The company just recently announced plans to deploy millions of battery-free “Ambient Internet of Things” sensors into its U.S. supply chain to better track inventory pallets across the country.
Mr. McMillon is considered young for a retired CEO from a large company, especially one with a successful tenure. In recent years, other large companies have waived or changed the retirement age for CEOs (typically 65 for many U.S. companies) to allow chief executives to stay in office longer.
“It is a great honor to serve as CEO of Walmart, and I am grateful to the board of directors and the Walton family for the opportunity,” McMillon said in a statement Friday. “We are extremely proud of what our employees have accomplished and are deeply grateful for their dedication to our customers, each other, and the communities we serve. Thank you, everyone!”
He is now passing the baton to John Furner, who has been with Walmart for more than 30 years and is currently the company’s head of U.S. operations. Furner, 51, has also been with the company, starting as an hourly employee in 1993 and rising through the ranks in various positions. Like McMillon, Furner previously served as CEO of Sam’s Club.
McMillon said in a statement Friday that Farner’s “curiosity and digital acumen, combined with his deep commitment to our nation’s people and culture, will take us to the next level.”
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