Early life and education
editMcMillon was born in Memphis, Tennessee,[1] and grew up in Jonesboro, Arkansas.[2] He was the oldest of three children born to Laura and Morris McMillon, a dentist who served in Vietnam.[3] His parents moved the family to Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Walmart headquarters, when McMillon was 16.[3] A sports enthusiast, McMillon played point guard on the Bentonville high school basketball team.[3]
McMillon graduated with a bachelor's degree from University of Arkansas in 1989 and received a master's of business administration (MBA) from University of Tulsa in 1991.[4]
Career
editMcMillon has worked for Walmart throughout his career.[5] He took on his first role with the company as a teenager in 1984, a summer job where McMillon unloaded trucks at a distribution center.[3][5][6] He later became a buyer, then moved into management roles.[2][5] He served as president and CEO of Sam's Club from 2005 to 2009 and president and CEO of Walmart International from 2009 to 2014.[3][7][8][9]
Walmart announced on November 25, 2013, that McMillon would immediately join Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s board of directors,[10] and would replace Mike Duke as Walmart CEO on February 1, 2014. McMillon is the company's fifth chief executive.[3]
McMillon took over the company at a time of slowing growth and increased competition from rivals, such as Costco, Amazon.com, grocery store chains Kroger and Safeway, and discount chains of small stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General.[3] Within his first two years as chief executive, McMillon raised wages for hourly workers in the U.S., boosted the company's commitment to e-commerce and revamped Walmart's executive team.
On March 31, 2015, McMillon issued a statement urging Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson to veto the state's "religious freedom" bill.[11] McMillon said the bill "threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state of Arkansas and does not reflect the values we proudly uphold".[11] In June 2015, McMillon said the company would stop selling Confederate flag merchandise[12] following the shooting of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.[13] Some shoppers and small store owners criticized Walmart for deciding to stop selling Confederate battle flag merchandise.[14][15]
McMillon also altered Walmart's gun sales. He told CNNMoney in an interview that Walmart's selection of firearms should be geared towards hunters and sports shooters.[16] In August 2015, the company ceased sales of military-style semiautomatic weapons[16] due to declining demand.[17] The National Shooting Sports Foundation said demand remained strong.[18]
Forbes named McMillon to its World's Most Powerful People list in 2014 and 2015, where he ranked No. 29 and No. 32, respectively.[19] ExecRank ranked McMillon No. 4 on its 2015 list of top CEOs for large companies.[20]
References
edit- ^ "Wal-Mart CEO bio box". Associated Press. February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016 – via The Gazette.
- ^ a b Banjo, Shelly (November 25, 2013). "Wal-Mart taps veteran as new CEO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g O'Keefe, Brian (June 4, 2015). "The man who's reinventing Walmart". Fortune. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ "Doug McMillon's competitive spirit works well at Walmart". USA Today. April 18, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ a b c Barr, Alistair; McCoy, Kevin (November 26, 2013). "New Wal-Mart CEO compares retail success to basketball". USA Today. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Painter, Steve (January 8, 2009). "McMillon to lead retailer's global arm". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
Since joining the company 18 years ago, he has worked his way up through Wal-Mart ranks from his first job unloading trucks at a distribution center.
- ^ "Microsoft names former Sam's Club exec as new COO". Associated Press. August 4, 2005. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
McMillon joined Wal-Mart full time in early 1991 as a buyer trainee in sporting goods.
- ^ Citrano, Virginia (August 5, 2005). "Microsoft names Wal-Mart exec as COO". Forbes. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Jopson, Barney (November 25, 2013). "Doug McMillon's rise from the shop floor to the chief's chair". Financial Times. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
In February 2009, Mr McMillon took over as president and chief executive of Walmart International, which has more than 6,300 stores and 823,000 staff in countries outside the US.
(subscription required) - ^ Dudley, Renee; Townsend, Matt (November 25, 2013). "Wal-Mart names Doug McMillon CEO to succeed Mike Duke". Forbes. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ a b McGregor, Jena (April 1, 2015). "Wal-Mart CEO speaks out against 'religious freedom' bill in Arkansas". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ChicagoBusiness15was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Alesci, Cristina; Isidore, Chris (June 23, 2015). "Walmart CEO: I was surprised we sold Confederate flags". CNN. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Carissimo, Justin (June 25, 2015). "People are upset that Walmart will no longer sell Confederate flag merchandise". The Independent. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ^ Stout, Hilary (June 23, 2015). "Confederate flag sales soar as retailers pull stock". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ^ a b Smith, Aaron; Alesci, Cristina (August 26, 2015). "Walmart to stop selling AR-15s and similar guns". CNN. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Ziobro, Paul (August 26, 2015). "Wal-Mart to stop selling semiautomatic rifles, citing declining demand". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ^ Layne, Nathan (August 27, 2015). "Wal-Mart to stop selling AR-15, other semi-automatic rifles". Reuters. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ^ "The world's most powerful people". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Johnsen, Michael (December 17, 2015). "Rite Aid's John Standley names No. 1 mip-cap CEO". Drug Store News. Retrieved January 22, 2016.