Walmart names Judith McKenna CEO of international arm

January 17, 2018

Walmart has appointed Judith McKenna, a longtime employee who previously held senior jobs at Asda, as chief executive of its international arm.

The promotion puts the 51-year old in charge of leading Walmart’s more than 6,000 stores from the UK to China, as the world’s largest retailer competes with Amazon to dominate shopping. Walmart, based in Arkansas, makes about a quarter of its nearly $500bn in annual sales from countries outside the US.

Ms McKenna has worked at Walmart for more than two decades, and is credited with helping build Asda’s ecommerce operations amid steep competition from the likes of Tesco and Aldi.

The promotion makes her a contender to eventually become chief executive of the whole company: Doug McMillon led the international division before being promoted to chief executive in 2014.

“I’ve had the pleasure to work with Judith for many years and have seen first-hand her ability to lead strategic change,” said Mr McMillon.

She succeeds David Cheesewright, who is set to retire in March.

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