CEO who softened Walmart's image retiring

Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon, who turned America’s largest retailer into a tech-powered giant and spearheaded a period of robust sales growth since becoming CEO in 2014, plans to retire early next year, the company said Friday in a surprise announcement.

- By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO

CHARLIE RIEDEL Associated Press

WALMART CEO Doug McMillon, known for connecting with workers, has been a key economic player.

John Furner, 51, the head of Walmart’s U.S. operations, will take over Feb. 1, the day after McMillon’s retirement becomes effective, the company said. Although MeMillon is set to spend a year advising his successor, Walmart shares fell 3% immediately in premarket trading after the news of the unexpected leadership change but recovered somewhat.

Unlike Amazon's Jeff Bezos or Tesla’s Elon Musk, McMillon isn’t a household name, but he has played a key role in the economy of the United States. Walmart’s performance serves as a barometer of consumer spending given its size and vast customer base. The company maintains that 90% of U.S. households rely on Walmart for a range of products, and more than 150 million customers shop on its website or in its stores every week.

Walmart, based in Ben-tonville, Ark., also is the nation’s largest private employer, with 16 million workers. That includes corporate personnel and people working for Sam’s Club, the membership warehouse-store chain that Walmart owns. Globally, Walmart employs 2.1 million people.

The pending CEO switch comes at a challenging time for retail companies and other employers that have spent almost ll months navigating an uncertain economic environment as President Trump’s administration imposed wide-ranging tariffs on imports and initiated an immigration crackdown that threatened to shrink the supply of workers.

McMillon, a University of Arkansas graduate, started with Walmart in 1984 and became chief executive three decades later. During his tenure as CEO, he invested heavily in employees by increasing wages, expanding parental leave and launching a program for employees seeking advancement and education opportunities to earn certificates and degrees.