Judith McKenna (born 1966) is an English businesswoman. She has been CEO of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

's international division since 2018. Previously, she held leadership roles within Walmart's US division and

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

, a subsidiary of Walmart International.

Early life

McKenna was born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, England, in 1966. She was educated at a local comprehensive school, then earned a law degree at

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

. She qualified as a chartered accountant with

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

Career

McKenna started her career with KPMG, followed by Carlsberg Tetley and

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. They ...

, and joined

in 1996. McKenna became

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

of Asda in 2001, a position she held until she was promoted to

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

in July 2011. At Asda, McKenna worked with David Cheesewright, whom she would later succeed at Walmart International. McKenna moved to the U.S. to lead strategy and development for Walmart International in 2014. The following year, she became chief operating officer for Walmart U.S. As COO, McKenna and Walmart U.S. president CEO Greg Foran led a $2 billion investment in higher wages, training, and technology. McKenna undertook initiatives to improve working conditions for associates, including efforts to clean stores, relax the dress code, and reinstituting Walmart Radio. She also developed training academies for associates, which includes digital learning tools and ongoing education opportunities. McKenna said more than 500,000 associates went through the academy program in 2018. She also brought features to Walmart U.S. that were present at Asda, including online ordering and in-store pickup, including grocery pickup. McKenna became president and CEO of Walmart International in February 2018, where she is responsible for the strategy and operations for more than 5,100 stores in 19 countries, including Mexico, Canada, China, and India. As head of Walmart International, McKenna reshaped the portfolio with the sale of operations in Japan, Argentina, Brazil, and the United Kingdom, moves she said were made to promote the long-term health of Walmart International and the businesses sold. She has worked to expand the role of e-commerce in Walmart's businesses, including overseeing the $16 billion acquisition of 77 percent of

Flipkart Flipkart Private Limited is an Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Bengaluru, and incorporated in Singapore as a private limited company. The company initially focused on online book sales before expanding into other product categories ...

, the largest online retailer in India. McKenna was first named to ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

''s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in 2015. As of 2022, McKenna ranked no. 14 on the list.

Personal life

McKenna met her husband, Phil Dutton, former finance director of

Punch Taverns Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constitu ...

, when both worked at Asda. They have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Judith Living people 1966 births Walmart people People from Middlesbrough Alumni of the University of Hull British women chief executives