Kathryn McLay

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Kathryn McLay took a pay cut to join Walmart, calling it “a gamble that paid off.”

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When Kathryn McLay became president and CEO of Walmart International in 2023, she took charge of one of the world’s largest retail operations. The global arm of Walmart Inc. (WMT) generates about $100 billion in annual revenue and serves tens of millions of customers each week. Known for her analytical approach and calm, methodical leadership, McLay rose from an accounting trainee in her native Australia to one of the world’s most senior executives in retail.

McLay received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance in 1996 from the University of Technology Sydney. She began her career in 1992 as a junior auditor at Deloitte, where she worked in both financial and internal auditing while pursuing her undergraduate studies.

After several years with the global accounting and consulting firm, she was hired by Qantas Airways as an internal audit manager. In 2001, McLay joined Woolworths Limited, Australia’s largest supermarket and retail chain, where she advanced through a series of leadership roles: head of group audit in 2005, general manager of business development in 2008, and general manager of cost focus in 2009.

During this time, she became the first woman to become president of the Institute of Internal Auditors–Australia. In that role, she encouraged companies to view internal auditing as a tool for improving corporate performance rather than simply ensuring compliance.

After more than a decade with Woolworths, McLay relocated to the United States in 2015 to join Walmart as vice president of finance and strategy for its U.S. division. At the time, she was a senior executive at Woolworths, roughly comparable in size to Sam’s Club, Walmart’s warehouse retail chain. She later described the move as a professional risk: “I took a pay cut and a title demotion to make the move to the U.S.,” she said in 2020. “My family has flourished in Bentonville,” she added, calling it “a gamble that paid off.”

She was soon promoted to senior vice president of supply chain and then to executive vice president of Neighborhood Markets, overseeing the company’s network of smaller grocery stores in urban and suburban areas.

In 2019, McLay was named president and CEO of Sam’s Club. Under her leadership, Sam’s Club modernized its operations and technology, launched its first Super Bowl commercial, and grew revenue by more than 40% in four years.

In 2023, McLay succeeded Judith McKenna as president and CEO of Walmart International. She has since led a workforce of roughly 500,000 employees and oversees operations from Mexico to India and from China to the United Kingdom. Known for her direct, collaborative approach, McLay has said that effective leadership “starts with showing up as yourself” and that she strives to model authenticity and resilience for others.

A month after assuming the role, she told an audience at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit: “I don’t think I am a traditional leader. Somebody said to me, ‘You need to behave like this, because that’s how a CEO behaves.’ And I thought: Well, I’m not going to be a very good CEO because I’m just going to be me.”

McLay has been regularly recognized for her influence by business publications. Fortune ranked her ninth and Forbes ranked her nineteenth on their lists of the most powerful women for 2024.