Walmart CEO Mike Duke has weathered the Mexican bribery scandal long enough.
The world’s biggest retailer said the 63-year-old Duke is leaving a full year and a half after explosive allegations that Walmart execs had been bribing Mexican officials in 2005 while Duke was leading the discounter’s international operations.
Duke will be replaced Feb. 1 by 47-year-old Doug McMillon, a homegrown exec whose meteoric rise most recently landed him as the current head of the international unit.
Duke made the decision to leave Walmart and it was “a personal one” that had nothing to do with the bribery charges, according to company spokesman David Tovar.
“He decided it was time to retire,” Tovar said, adding that Duke approached Walmart Chairman Rob Walton and the board voted Friday.
The Walton family has backed Duke unwaveringly since an April 2012 New York Times story reported that Walmart execs had systematically paid bribes to local officials to streamline building permits.
Top Walmart execs halted an internal investigation in 2006 on Duke’s watch despite having evidence, according to the report.
Walmart initially denied that company directors knew of the bribes. But earlier this year, US lawmakers released emails that appeared to show Duke had learned of the payments as early as 2005.
Walmart said in a November 2012 filing that the US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are probing the matter, and that it is investigating possible bribes in markets “including but not limited to Brazil, China and India.”
McMillon, said to be a favorite of the founding Walton family, succeeded Duke as head of the international division a full three years before the Mexico bribery charges surfaced.
At the time of the alleged bribes, however, McMillon had been running the company’s Sam’s Clubs division.
At an investor meeting last month, McMillon said Walmart had hired a chief compliance officer and anti-corruption leader for each market outside the US.
Some insiders were surprised that McMillon clinched the position as Walmart’s fifth CEO, as Bill Simon, head of the US stores, had been seen by many as the front-runner.
While 54-year-old Simon has been well-regarded, his big disadvantage may be that he, unlike McMillon, didn’t start his career at Walmart, according to industry insiders.
Simon, who joined Walmart in 2006 from restaurant giant Brinker International, is expected to leave the company.
Duke, meanwhile, will remain as chairman of the executive committee of the board as McMillon looks to jumpstart stubbornly stagnant sales at the retailer, which is battling a sluggish economy and stiff competition from dollar discount stores.
Walmart said it plans to name McMillon’s successor at the international unit early next year. Insiders said Cathy Smith, the unit’s financial and operating chief, is a leading candidate.