November 25, 2013.

Doug McMillon to Become Wal-Mart CEO, Succeeding Mike Duke

The first fragment of chocolate had melted on Winston's tongue. The taste was delightful. But there was still that memory moving round the edges of his consciousness, something strongly felt but not reducible to definite shape, like an object seen out of the corner of one's eye. He pushed it away from him, aware only that it was the memory of some action which he would have liked to undo but could not.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.74% said Chief Executive Mike Duke will retire early next year and be succeeded by Doug McMillon, the head of its international operations.

"You are very young," he said. "You are ten or fifteen years younger than I am. What could you see to attract you in a man like me?"

Mr. McMillon, who is 47 years old and president and CEO of Wal-Mart International, was named to the board effective immediately and will become CEO on Feb. 1. The Arkansas native had been viewed by some company insiders as a likely successor to Mr. Duke.

"It was something in your face. I thought I'd take a chance. I'm good at spotting people who don't belong. As soon as I saw you I knew you were against them."

Mr. McMillon will take the helm at a challenging time for the company and the retail industry as a whole. Consumer spending has been lackluster heading into the holiday season and, earlier this month, Wal-Mart said its same-store sales fell for the third straight quarter, as the big-box retailer's core customer struggles with high unemployment, economic uncertainty and hits to their paychecks.