Management & Work

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon’s Digital Strength Was His Restraint

A restrained approach has made Walmart an e-commerce contender.

Outgoing Walmart CEO Doug McMillon in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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In 1999, when I was a reporter covering the retail sector, my editor called and asked me to start writing about Amazon.com Inc. I was confused. Bloomberg already had a reporter covering the nascent e-commerce industry from San Francisco, and I was in Chicago busily following the national discount chains and department stores.