Walmart CEO’s Total Compensation Falls to $22.1M

Walmart Inc. President and CEO C. Douglas McMillon saw his total compensation drop 6.4% to $22.1 million for the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31 compared with the previous year.

McMillon, who has been head of the Bentonville retailer since February 2014, received stock awards of $15.7 million during the fiscal year, according to the company’s annual proxy filing Thursday. McMillon received a $3.5 million bonus. His salary was $1.3 million, the same as it was the previous two years.

Most of McMillon’s total compensation includes the stock awards of $15.7 million, which has not yet been earned or paid but will be determined based on Walmart hitting its goals. 

The annual total compensation of Walmart’s median associate was $22,484, a 2.4% increase from the previous year. The ratio of McMillon’s total compensation to the median associate’s was 983-to-1.

Earlier this month, Walmart said it would not hold its annual employee celebration event, which typically attracts thousands of employees from all over the world to Fayetteville, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The retailer said its annual shareholders’ meeting, set for 10:30 a.m. June 3, will be conducted by a virtual meeting at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/WMT2020.

The proxy also showed that M. Brett Biggs, Walmart’s chief financial officer, had total compensation of $8.8 million, a decrease of 6.6% from the previous year. He had a salary of $915,358, stock awards of $5.7 million and a bonus of $1.6 million.

Walmart’s named executives won’t own the stock awards listed until after a period of several years, and the stock awards are not part of an annual payout or vesting.

Suresh Kumar, the company’s global chief technology officer, had total compensation of $45.9 million, the highest total compensation on the list of named executives. The bulk of the compensation, $43.6 million, came from stock awards. Kumar’s salary was $576,923. 

This is the first time Kumar appeared on the list of named executives.

Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International, had a compensation package worth $12.2 million, which was down from $12.9 million the previous year. Her base salary was $1.07 million, and she had stock awards worth $7.3 million and a bonus of $1.8 million. 

Kathryn McLay, president and CEO of the Sam’s Club division, had total compensation of $13.5 million, with the majority coming from stock awards of $11.9 million. Her base salary was $640,409. This is the first time Kumar appeared on the list of named executives.

John R. Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., had a compensation package worth $9.9 million, which was up from $9.3 million the previous year. His salary was $847,895 and he received $6.7 million in stock options and a $1.8 million bonus.