William Rodney McMullen (born 1961) is an American businessman who has been the CEO of

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...

, the third-largest general retailer in the US, since January 1, 2014.

Early life

McMullen was born in

Pineville, Kentucky Pineville () is a home rule-class city in Bell County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 1,732 as of the 2010 census. It is located on a small strip of land between the Cumberland River and Pine Mountain ...

on his family-owned farm, and was the first of his family to receive a college education. He has a bachelor's and a master's degree in accounting, both from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Career

In 1978, McMullen began working part-time as a stock clerk in his local Kroger grocery store, while a university student. His work included price tagging items, bagging groceries, receiving product, and running the register. In 1982, McMullen moved to

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. From there, he became a

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, ...

in the corporate headquarters. At the age of 34, McMullen became chief financial officer. McMullen was key in the merger with Fred Meyer, Inc. in 1999. In 2003, McMullen became vice chairman, and COO in 2009. McMullen became the CEO of Kroger on January 1, 2014, succeeding David Dillon. McMullen received $12m compensation in FY 2018, jumping by 21% to $20.1m for FY2019 due to "a boost in stock awards tied to performance incentives". McMullen is a non-executive director of

Cincinnati Financial Cincinnati Financial Corporation offers property and casualty insurance, its main business, through The Cincinnati Insurance Company, The Cincinnati Indemnity Company and The Cincinnati Casualty Company. The company has 1.01% of the domestic prope ...

Compensation

McMullen's salary in 2021 was listed at $1.34 million. The company's median employee salary that year was a bit more than $24,000. This indicates McMullen makes 5,348 percent of the median salary. This is one of the largest wage gaps in America. His total compensation is much more. In 2020, his salary plus bonuses plus various stock options totaled $20,578,119.

Personal life

He is married to Kathryn King McMullen, whom he met when they were both students at the University of Kentucky.

References

1960s births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of Kentucky alumni Businesspeople from Kentucky American chief executives {{US-business-bio-1960s-stub