Duke to Succeed Scott As Wal-Mart CEO

The board of directors of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville has elected Mike Duke to succeed Lee Scott as president and CEO effective Feb. 1.

In a news release, Wal-Mart said Duke, 58, was also elected to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. It said Scott will continue as chairman of the executive committee of the board.

Duke has been Wal-Mart’s international division president. Wal-Mart said it will name a successor to that post by the end of the fiscal year.

“Lee Scott has made an extraordinary contribution to Wal-Mart during his almost thirty years of service as an associate, and as our president and CEO for the last nine years,” Rob Walton, chairman of the board of directors, said in the news release. “Lee has led Wal-Mart with humility and grace, and has been a worthy successor to his predecessors, Sam Walton and David Glass.”

Wal-Mart’s board also voted to promote Eduardo Castro-Wright, 53, to vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, effective immediately. In addition to his responsibilities as president and CEO of Wal-Mart U.S., Castro-Wright will take over management of the company’s global procurement operation.

Responding to the slow U.S. economy, it said last month that it will open fewer Supercenters in the U.S. next year and in 2010 and will trim its capital spending budget.

Internationally, however, Wal-Mart plans to focus more resources on growth in markets such as Brazil, India, China and Japan. Under Duke’s oversight, Wal-Mart has also explored putting stores in Russia.

Expanding Wal-Mart’s global markets is where the growth of the company is going to be, and Duke has led that growth as international division president.