Walmart CEO to serve two-year term beginning January 1.

WASHINGTON – The Business Roundtable on Thursday tapped Walmart president and chief executive Doug McMillon to serve as its next chairman. He will serve a two-year term starting January 1.

McMillon will succeed Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, as chairman of the association of corporate chief executive officers, which aims to promote public policies that it believes will support a thriving U.S. economy.

“Doug is a forward-looking leader who understands the importance of a growing and inclusive economy that serves all Americans,” Dimon said in a statement. “At a time when our organization is reaffirming the significance of corporate commitments to workers and communities as a critical piece of creating long-term value, Doug is uniquely experienced to lead by example and ensure our voice is heard.”

Dimon, who began his tenure as chairman on January 1, 2017 and will remain an active member of the Business Roundtable’s board of directors after his extended three-year term as chairman ends on December 31.

McMillon said he was honored to take on the role of chairman.

“In the coming months, there will be extensive conversations about America’s future and the role business plays in shaping it,” he said. “As chairman, I commit to keeping Business Roundtable CEOs at the forefront of constructive public policy debates as we pursue an agenda of greater growth and opportunity for all Americans.”

McMillon first joined Walmart in 1984 as an hourly worker at one of the company’s distribution centers. He rejoined the company in 1990, while pursuing his master’s degree in business administration, as an assistant store manager in Tulsa, Okla. He later moved into merchandising, and went on to hold senior leadership roles in all of Walmart’s business segments.

“Doug is a superb leader of a company that reaches over 5,300 communities and employs 1.5 million people in America,” said Business Roundtable president and CEO Joshua Bolten. “As CEO of the nation’s largest employer, Doug brings an important perspective to the policy debate around the future of work, innovation and America’s competitiveness. I look forward to supporting Doug and all our members as we continue to advocate for policies that spur innovation, sustain economic growth and expand opportunity in the United States.”

The Business Roundtable is an association of CEOs of America’s leading companies representing all sectors of the economy. McMillon joined the Roundtable in 2014 and currently serves on its board. Last month the group issued an updated “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation,” which seeks to strike a better balance between the need to generate earnings for stockholders and the interests of customers, employees, suppliers and the communities they serve.