Wal-Mart has announced Doug McMillon as its new CEO just before its busiest shopping week of the year. The world's largest private employer has given McMillon, 47, the promotion in an attempt to increase its sales as well as fend off some of its critics who complain about low pay and a lack of advancement opportunities for the store's 2 million employees across the country.
According to ABC News, he will take the reigns of the company on Feb. 1 from his current post as president and CEO of Walmart International, where he oversees more than 6,300 stores and 823,000 workers in 26 countries outside of the United States. He will take over for the current president, Mike Duke, 63, who had been rumored to be considering retirement for quite some time.
McMillon has a long history with Wal-Mart having begun his career as a summer employee in a distribution center back in 1984. From there he went to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, one town over from the store chain's corporate headquarters, according to reports from Forbes.
In 1990, while going for his MBA, he rejoined the company in Tulsa, Okla. He spent the next 32 years rapidly climbing the ranks in merchandising positions.
"A merchant at heart, Doug has both a long history with our company and a keen sense of where our customers globally are heading next," said Rob Walton, chairman of the company in a statement on McMillon's promotion. "He has also shown strong leadership on environmental sustainability and a commitment to using Wal-Mart's size and scale to make a difference in the lives of people, wherever they might be."
According to ABC, some analysts expect the new CEO was groomed for the role while others had their sites set on Bill Simon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart U.S. McMillon will be the fifth CEO in Wal-Mart's 51-year history.
