Doug McMillon

We shouldn't comment on everything.

We should live in a way that's consistent with our values.

In my case, I should be doing everything I can from a practical point of view to make people that work at Walmart feel heard and included.

They've gotta be happy or customers won't be happy.

That is the primary focus.

And I'm sure in the future, John Furner, who's replacing me and other CEOs will end up speaking up on some things and they will consider, what do my stakeholders think?

Do I have an ability to make a difference?

How does this relate to my brand and my business?

And at times, I'm sure people will speak up, but there's a lot of judgment required because there's no formula that tells you when you should and when you shouldn't.

John and I have been working together for almost 20 years.

He's been with the company for more than 30 years.

His dad worked for the company, met his wife at the company.

Sam Walton rubbed his head one day at a camp out.

I mean, this is a situation where you've got someone who's eight years younger than I am, that deeply loves the company, has done all the jobs, merchandising, operations, sourcing, all three segments, lived around the world.

He really knows the business and he's got a futuristic view of what the company can become, including how to apply AI.

I think the answer I just gave you is the reason why.

It's because he's ready to do this better than I can.

We would be sitting in meetings with some of the hyperscalers or other people talking about AI, and John really gets it at a high level and is ahead of me in some of these conversations.

And when you combine that with his experience and how much he loves the company, you get another decade or decade plus of someone who actually met Sam Walton and can keep this thing going.

And the job of a CEO is to lead before you need to lead, not after.