Kroger paid former CEO Rodney McMullen more than $15M in 2024, median worker got $34K

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Kroger paid former CEO Rodney McMullen more than $15M in 2024, median worker got $34K
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Kroger ousts long-time CEO after probe into personal conduct
Longtime Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen has resigned after an internal investigation found that his personal conduct was "inconsistent" with the company's ethics policy.
Reuters
Kroger paid former CEO Rodney McMullen $15.4 million in 2024 – the final year before his abrupt March 3 resignation in the wake of a company ethics investigation. The amount was a slight decrease from his previous year's pay, according to a corporate filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
A year before, the former CEO of the nation's largest supermarket retailer was paid $15.5 million, according to the Associated Press' methodology for executive compensation that excludes pension value changes.
Interim CEO Ron Sargent, a Kroger board member and former Staples CEO, took over at the retailer after the exit of McMullen. CEO for more than 11 years, McMullen resigned amid an investigation into his 'personal conduct' that 'was inconsistent' with the grocer's policy of business ethics, the grocer disclosed.
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Sargent, 69, said on a conference call a few days later that Kroger would conduct a national search for a successor and consider both internal and external candidates for the CEO position. The company hasn't given a timeline for naming McMullen's permanent successor.
Median worker saw pay climb amid executive shuffle
In 2024, the typical Kroger worker's pay rose $2,900, climbing 9% in 2024 to $34,213. The ratio of McMullen's pay to the median Kroger worker pay, as required to be reported by the government, was 457 to 1, narrowing from the previous ratio of 502 to 1 the previous year.
Kroger's proxy, filed on May 15, also reflected a spate of recent executive turnover as half the 'named executive officers,' whose pay is subject to public disclosure, no longer work for the grocer. The filing listed three current executives still employed at Kroger: Mary Ellen Adcock, the company's chief merchant and marketing officer; Yael Cosset, the retailer's head of digital; and Timothy Massa, the associate experience officer (head of human resources and labor relations).
Besides McMullen, the proxy lists two other ex-Kroger executives: former chief financial officers Gary Millerchip (who left Kroger for the same position at Costco in early 2024) and Todd Foley (who served as interim chief of finance until retiring this spring).
A profitable Fortune 500 company doing business in 35 states
A Fortune 500 company, Kroger earned a $2.7 billion profit on $147.1 billion of sales in 2024.
In addition to Kroger stores, the Cincinnati-based grocer operates several regional supermarket chains in 35 states, including Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Mariano's, Fry's, Smith's, King Soopers, QFC and others. The company has more than 2,700 stores and employs 409,000 workers.