Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon is set to step down from his role next year.
The superstore said on Friday that McMillon will leave his position after more than a decade.
This will be a major leadership change for the nation’s largest retailer and private employer as it continues to navigate a complicated consumer environment.
Following the sudden announcement, Walmart shares were down 2.5 percent in premarket trading.
McMillon will retire January 31, 2026 but stay on the board through June and as an advisor through January 31, 2027.
John Furner, currently the CEO of Walmart US, will take over as Walmart’s chief executive after the company’s fiscal year ends on February 1, the company announced.
Furner, 51, has led Walmart US since 2019, overseeing its biggest business segment and more than 4,600 stores.
He started at Walmart in 1993 as an hourly associate and has held leadership roles in merchandising, operations, and sourcing.
Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon (pictured) is set to step down from his role next year
‘John is a merchant, an operator, an innovator and a builder who started his career more than 30 years ago with Walmart as an hourly associate,’ Walmart News shared. ‘His love for our associates and Walmart runs deep.’
His father was also an executive at the company.
McMillon, 59, guided Walmart through a period of rapid expansion as the company overhauled its operations to emphasize ecommerce growth amid rising competition from Amazon.
Earlier this month, McMillon warned that artificial intelligence was going to reshape every single job across the retail giant’s 2.1 million-strong workforce.
He said the transformation will redefine how America’s largest employer operates from top to bottom, affecting at least 1.6 million US workers.
Speaking at a Harvard Business Review event Monday, McMillon said the company was going on ‘the offense’ with AI, predicting sweeping changes for cashiers, warehouse staff, store managers and executives alike as automation spreads through every corner of the business.
‘Every job we’ve got is going to change in some way – whether it’s getting the shopping carts off the parking lot, or the way our technologists work, or certainly the way leadership roles change,’ McMillon said.
The CEO’s blunt assessment marks one of corporate America’s clearest acknowledgments that the AI revolution will transform not just office jobs, but frontline retail and logistics roles across the country.
The warning comes amid a rapid corporate shift toward the technology and just weeks after Walmart unveiled a new collaboration with Sam Altman’s OpenAI, allowing customers to shop and make purchases directly through ChatGPT.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
