Who is Doug McMillon?
McMillon got his first job at Walmart at age 17
Coral May, president and CEO of eTrueNorth, on coronavirus mobile testing centers in Georgia.
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Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon is leading the giant retailer through one of the most uncertain times in its history.
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The 53-year-old has been head honcho at Walmart, which brought in more than $500 billion last year, since 2014. He's Walmart's fifth CEO and made about $22 million last year.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 83.85 | +0.41 | +0.49% |
Just like Walmart, McMillon can trace his early days back to Arkansas. At 17, he got his first job with the company: loading trucks at a northwest Arkansas distribution center.
“I was surprised when I started working in those trailers in the summertime,” McMillon told Walmart's associate magazine in 2014. “I was working with people who were highly engaged. People who were doing hard work in the heat of the summer but enjoying it and talking about the company in a positive way—and with a genuine affection for Walmart.”
But education was McMillon's goal. He studied business at the University of Arkansas, then went to the University of Tulsa for a master's in business administration. While working on his master's, McMillon returned to Walmart as an assistant store manager.
President Donald Trump listens as Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, April 27, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
He went corporate after getting a job as an assistant buyer in Walmart's fishing tackle category. McMillon overlapped with legendary Walmart founder Sam Walton in the early 1990s. In fact, he found a note from Walton saying a competitor had a better price on fishing line on his desk on his first day on the job.
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McMillon kept moving up, eventually becoming Sam's Club CEO in 2006. Now he can boast that he's the youngest person to ever reach the rank of Walmart CEO.