Walmart CEO Doug McMillon will retire effective Jan. 31, 2026, the company announced in a Friday morning surprise, concluding a decade-long tenure that reshaped the retail giant’s global strategy and digital presence.
TL;DR
- Walmart CEO Doug McMillon will retire January 31, 2026, after a decade leading the retail giant.
- John Furner, currently leading Walmart's U.S. Business, will succeed McMillon as CEO on February 1, 2026.
- McMillon's tenure saw Walmart's stock quadruple and a focus on employee wages and sustainability.
- Furner plans to maintain Walmart's large employee base while adapting to AI and new job roles.
John Furner, who presently leads Walmart's U.S. Business, is set to take over from McMillon as president and chief executive officer on February 1, 2026. Furner has also been appointed to the company's Board of Directors, with the change effective immediately. McMillon will continue serving on the Board of Directors until the upcoming annual shareholders' meeting, according to the company, to facilitate a seamless transition.
“John Furner is the right leader to guide Walmart into our next chapter of growth and transformation,” Greg Penner, chairman of Walmart Inc., said in a statement. “After starting as an hourly associate and being with us for over 30 years in a variety of leadership roles across all three of our operating segments, John understands every dimension of our business – from the sales floor to global strategy.
Since 2013, McMillon has led the U.S.'s biggest retailer as its chief executive, during which time the company's stock has quadrupled. Throughout his leadership, Walmart sat at No. 1 on the Coins2Day 500.
The CEO, who first joined the company in 1993 as a warehouse worker, also navigated a rocky past decade that has included the pandemic and its aftershocks, the rise of e-commerce and artificial intelligence, as well as an unsteady trade environment that forced the retailer to increase prices.
Walmart’s prowess has continued to grow. Its U.S. Revenue rose 4.7% to $462.42 billion last year, nabbing market share from retail rivals Target and Kroger. In August, the retailer said it expected U.S. Sales growth of up to 4.75% for fiscal 2025, coming off of a hot first quarter.
During McMillon's tenure, Walmart boosted entry-level wages from $9 in 2015 to $14 by 2024, alongside enhanced training and contributions to employee college tuition. The retailer's commitment to sustainability resulted in achieving its objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by one gigaton by 2023, six years ahead of schedule.
“We’re not a perfect company, but we’ve done a lot of good things for the environment, for our associates, for others,” McMillon told Coins2Day last year. “I would just love for the reputation to match the reality.”
Bank of America Research analyst Robert Ohmes informed investors that he didn't anticipate significant strategic shifts at the company after Furner assumed leadership at Walmart. Ohmes pointed out that the news of McMillon's retirement aligned with the typical timing of previous leadership changes, which usually occurred after fall board sessions. “We believe the timing of this transition underscores Walmart’s confidence in its strong position and the current momentum of the business,”, the note stated.
Incoming CEO Furner is already grappling with today’s questions surrounding AI and the future of Walmart’s workforce. He told Coins2Day’s Jason Del Rey at the Brainstorm Tech conference in September that the retailer planned to continue to employ its roughly 1.6 million employee base.
“When we look out two years, three years, five years, where I think we’ll be is we’ll have roughly the same number of people we have today,” he said.
As Walmart expands, maintaining its current employee count will result in increased per capita productivity. Furner indicated that as the company and its technology advance, certain positions will cease to exist, while new ones will be created. He shared at the conference that a general manager at a Brooksville, Florida, store transitioned from managing trucks for twenty years to overseeing a team of bot technicians.
“We’re extending people’s career and those jobs pay better. The attrition rates are really low,” Furner said.