Costco CFO Richard Galanti to step down after nearly 4 decades as finance chief

Costco CFO Richard Galanti on Tuesday announced plans to step down after serving for nearly 40 years in the role.

The retailer said Gary Millerchip, the former Kroger finance chief, will take over on March 15, when Galanti’s decades-long tenure as CFO is expected to end.

Galanti has long been a fixture – particularly on quarterly earnings calls – for Costco shareholders. He has often shared colorful tidbits about the retailer during them.

While participating in December’s first-quarter call, for example, Galanti reported Costco warehouses in the U.S. had seen over 4 million pie sales in the three days before Thanksgiving. He also said customers bought over $100 million worth of gold bars in the three-month period.

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Galanti has perhaps famously told analysts Costco membership fees increasing "is a question of when, not if" on multiple occasions, including in December. The retailer had 129.5 million cardholders at the end of November.

CEO Ron Vachris, who started leading Costco last month, expressed gratitude to Galanti in a Tuesday statement, saying he "has made innumerable and invaluable contributions to [Costco’s] success" and is "widely known, admired, and respected among our shareholders, employees, business partners, and others."

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Galanti will serve in an advisory capacity after Millerchip takes over.

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