A New Zealander who began his career stacking shelves at Woolworths has been appointed the head of Walmart's US operations.
Greg Foran jjoined the giant retail firm in Asia in 2011, and takes over as US chief executive at the Arkansas-based multinational on 9 August.
Greg Foran. Photo: REUTERS
According to Bloomberg News, the 53-year-old will receive a total pay package worth more than $US10 million, provided he meets set targets.
His base salary is only $US950,000 but he will also be due incentive payments, annual awards of shares in Walmart and a one-off $US500,000 cash payment.
He replaces Bill Simon, who had been a contender to become chief executive of the whole company, but Walmart picked Doug McMillon, who took over in February, instead.
Bloomberg News reported it was Mr McMillon who, as head of the Asia division, hired Mr Foran in 2011.
Mr Foran became head of the China business in 2012 and then in June this year was appointed head of the Asian division.
However, Walmart's US operations are struggling in the face of sluggish employment and recent government cuts to food stamps.
The company is controversially known for paying most of its workers the minimum wage and many of those workers depend on food stamps.
The company is due to report its second quarter earnings in a couple of weeks and the retailer has reported falling sales at its US stores open 12 months or more in each of the last five quarters.
Photo: REUTERS
