New Walmart CEO John Furner’s Rise From Garden Center to Corner Office | Invesloan.com

His father, Steve Furner, became an executive at Walmart in the 1980s. John Furner chose to study business at the University of Arkansas in 1992.

Furner applied for a job at Store 100 to earn money for college. The Federal minimum wage at the time was $4.25, which would be worth about $9.68 in today’s dollars.

Some of his roles ranged from assistant store manager to district manager, regional general manager, and from buyer to divisional merchandising manager, to VP of global sourcing.

“John understands every dimension of our business — from the sales floor to global strategy,” Walmart chairman Greg Penner said in a statement.

Furner spent most of the next 13 years with the Walmart-owned warehouse club chain. At the time, future Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was CEO of Sam’s.

That period marked a major turning point for the company, with dozens of store closures setting the stage for aggressive expansion plans.

Furner played a key role in improving the club’s product assortment.

As Sam’s Club CEO, Furner oversaw 11 consecutive quarters of comparable sales growth, as well as robust membership expansion, the company said.

As CEO of Walmart US, Furner was responsible for overseeing more than 4,600 locations and about 1 million employees. He has also played key roles in the overhaul of the company’s sprawling logistics and fulfillment network, as the brick-and-mortar brand reinvents itself as an e-commerce leader powered by artificial intelligence.

He also took home a hefty pay package worth nearly $16.3 million last year — a far cry from his annual earnings as a part time worker.

“I’ve worked with John for more than 20 years,” McMillon said in a statement released Friday. “He’s a merchant, an operator, an innovator, and a builder. I know that our future is bright with his leadership.”