Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon will step down in January, ending more than 10 years leading the world’s largest retailer and handing the role to John Furner, a longtime company executive who began his Walmart career on the shop floor and now oversees its U.S. business. The transition comes during a period of solid growth for the company, despite uncertainty from new tariffs and signs of softer consumer spending.
McMillon, 59, exits after guiding Walmart through a sweeping transformation that expanded its e-commerce operations and scaled back riskier international divisions. Chairman Greg Penner said McMillon leaves the company in a stronger position than when he took over in 2014, at a time when Walmart faced pressure from the rise of online retail. Penner credited McMillon with investing in workers, advancing digital and e-commerce capabilities, and modernizing supply chains to drive persistent financial performance.
Walmart, which generated roughly $680 billion in revenue last year and operates more than 10,000 stores across 19 countries, adopted a faster, more experimental approach under McMillon — behaving “like a small business,” according to Neil Saunders of GlobalData. Some efforts yielded mixed results, such as the sale of the Bonobos menswear brand in 2023 at a loss six years after its acquisition. However, online sales have become a central growth driver.
McMillon will stay on as an adviser to Furner and continue serving on Walmart’s board through June 2026 to support the leadership transition. In a statement, he called the role a “great honour” and said Furner, 51, is “uniquely capable” of leading Walmart into what he described as its next AI-driven phase.
Furner has led Walmart’s U.S. business since 2019, steering it through pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and subsequent price volatility. The company also navigated this year’s abrupt tariff changes by using its scale to limit price increases and strengthen its competitive position. U.S. sales rose nearly 5% in the most recent quarter. Furner had long been viewed as the most likely successor.
Following the announcement, Walmart shares dipped about 2% in early trading before recovering part of the loss.
Featured image credits: David Montero via Unsplash
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