Former Walmart CEO McMillon ‘excited about doing nothing’

Doug McMillon, who retired as Walmart CEO on Feb. 1 after 35 years with the Bentonville-based global retailer, is dealing with the new experience of having a “blank calendar.”

“I have been working since I was a kid, and I have not had a blank calendar,” he said in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. “I haven’t had a moment. I am kind of excited about doing nothing in addition to my Walmart responsibilities for a while. I do not know how long I will hold off (before deciding on a new endeavor).”

McMillon, 59, will spend the next fiscal year with Walmart in a consulting role, working with John Furner, the former Walmart U.S. CEO who succeeded McMillon at the top spots.

McMillon published his last letter to Walmart employees on Monday (Feb. 2), reiterating his thanks for the past 35 years. Between his junior and senior years of high school, McMillon applied at McDonald’s, which paid $3.35 an hour, and at the local Kraft Cheese plant, which never called him back. He said Walmart paid $6.50 an hour, so that was the job he took.

“From my first summer in 1984 working in Warehouse 2, I knew Walmart was a special place,” he noted. “I quickly learned that the people here care deeply about the company and about serving others.”

In the letter, McMillon said the people he has met around the world over the years continue to bring the company’s culture to life.

“The sweetest part of these last few weeks has been an even more intense realization that we’re a team with each one of us doing our part,” he wrote.

He said during the Wall Street Journal interview that his worst day in his 35 years with the company was the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting inside a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. The shooting left 23 dead and 22 injured. He said things outside of Walmart’s control are the hardest to manage.

McMillon said he will definitely not choose politics as his next chapter. As for what worries him the most about Walmart, he said it will be the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI). He has said Furner is the right man to run the next lap and lead Walmart through its AI transformation.

“We should remain human, put people first, associates and customers, that’s who we are serving,” McMillon said in the interview. “The technology is going to enable us to do things for customers we were only able to dream of in the past, and AI is going to play a big role in that.”