Books Recommended by Doug McMillon

Doug McMillon was, in 2019, the CEO, president and a board member of the giant retailer Walmart.

Sam Walton first envisioned something more modest when he founded Walmart: a retail business that would serve rural areas and help customers cut costs and share profits.

Walmart grew quickly and, in 2019, was the top global company by revenue (Amazon‘s revenue was less than half of Walmart’s).

In 1988, Walton gave up his role as CEO and, by 2019, the company had been led by four chief executives: David Glass, Lee Scott, Michael Duke and Doug McMillon, CEO since 2014.

But it was a long way until Doug ended up running it. In fact, his first job at Walmart was an hourly summer associate in a Walmart distribution center, unloading trucks, when he was still a teenager.

Doug has a B.S. in business administration and earned his MBA in finance from the University of Tulsa.

In 1990, during his MBA program, McMillon rejoined Walmart as an assistent manager, and then moved to merchandise.

After taking various roles, McMillon worked as president and CEO of company’s International and Sam’s Club business units, the chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc.

In 2014, Doug took over the whole company in a time of slow growth and when the competition from rivals was increasing. Since then, Doug constantly raised wages investing billions of dollars, affecting the lives of over one million employees.

Doug also serves on the board of directors for the Consumer Goods Forum, the U.S.-China Business Council, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Another significant change that Walmart faced since Doug’s “presidency” is the replacement of lighting with LED lights for energy efficiency.

McMillon was Walmart’s president and CEO from 2014 until he retired in 2026. As of 2026, he sits on Walmart’s board of directors.


All books recommended by Doug McMillon:

In Doug McMillon’s words:

Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly.

In Doug McMillon’s words:

Read some wonderful and enlightening books this year.

In Doug McMillon’s words:

Here's a list of the top books that taught and inspired me this year. I go back to Sam Walton's book frequently and was struck, this year, by some common principles between Sam and General McChrystal. It seems they learned some similar things about what works when it comes to leading teams. For example, fostering a shared consciousness and empowering execution delivers results. Greg Foran shared The Good Jobs Strategy with me and I see a connection to Tim Brown's Change by Design. We are making progress in designing a "system" for our associates that results in opportunities for them and an even better work environment.

Reading lists by year: 2016