Walter Craig Jelinek (born August 8, 1952) is an American businessman, president and CEO of

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

since 2012, when he succeeded the company's founder,

James Sinegal James D. "Jim" Sinegal (born January 1, 1936) is an American billionaire businessman who is the co-founder and former CEO of the Costco Wholesale Corporation,Allison, Melissa"Costco's colorful CEO, co-founder Jim Sinegal to retire" ''The Seattle ...

Early life

On August 8, 1952, Jelinek was born in Los Angeles, California. In 1970, Jelinek graduated from Antelope Valley High School.

Education

In 1975, Jelinek earned a bachelor's degree from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

Career

Jelinek started his career at FedMart. In 1981, Jelinek joined Lucky Stores. In 1984, he joined

as a warehouse manager and became CEO in 2012. Jelinek also sits on Costco Wholesale UK Ltd's board. In 2018, Jelinek's annual base salary was $800,000 as stated by The

Puget Sound Business Journal The ''Puget Sound Business Journal'' (PSBJ) is a weekly American City Business Journals publication containing articles about business people, issues, and events in the greater Seattle, Washington area. The publication also publishes a technology ...

. In 2020, Jelinek's base salary was $1,000,000 and total compensation was $8,279,552 as per SEC filing by Costco.

Awards

* 2019 Peter G. Peterson Business Statesmanship Award. Presented by Committee for Economic Development.

References

External links