Doug McMillon's rise from the shop floor to the chief's chair

Doug McMillon, who is to succeed Mike Duke as chief executive of Walmart on February 1 after four years as head of its international operations, began his career in the company as an 18-year-old summer staffer at a distribution centre.

Six years later, in 1990, while studying for his MBA at the University of Tulsa, he rejoined Walmart at a store in Oklahoma City, according to his official biography on the company's website.

Most of his career has been spent in merchandising in Walmart's US division, with stints in food, clothing and general merchandise.

From 2006 to 2009, Mr McMillon, 47, from Arkansas, worked as president and chief executive of Sam's Club, which offers merchandise in bulk. It is named after Sam Walton, part of the family which owns about 50 per cent of the company.

He took over as president and chief executive of Walmart International in February 2009. The division has more than 6,300 stores and 823,000 staff in countries outside the US. The operations have grown constantly under Mr McMillon's leadership, which helped install him as favourite to succeed Mr Duke, but at a slower pace in the past two years compared with previous years.

In August Walmart cut its sales forecast for global growth to between 2 per cent and 3 per cent for the year ending in January 2014, from 5 per cent to 6 per cent.

The boards he serves on include the US China Business Council, the dean's advisory board for the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, and Crystal Bridges, a US art museum.

The World Economic Forum has also recognised him as a young global leader.

Rob Walton, Walmart's chairman, said Mr McMillon was "uniquely positioned to lead our growing global company and to serve the changing customer, while remaining true to our culture and values".

"He has broad experience - with successful senior leadership roles in all of Walmart's business segments - and a deep understanding of the economic, social and technological trends shaping our world," Mr Walton added.

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