What Walmart, Target, and Kroger pay their CEOs

What Walmart, Target, and Kroger pay their CEOs Daniel Kline Sat, June 27, 2026 at 11:17 PM GMT+7 7 min read The CEO of Kroger, Walmart, Target, or any other grocery store chain probably never has to think about the price of eggs, milk, or even caviar. In fact, even when you look at the lowest-paid big grocery chain CEO, Publix's Kevin Murphy, he's probably not spending a lot of time at the butcher counter deciding whether to buy ground beef instead of steak. "CEOs of major U.S. companies were paid 21 times as much as the typical worker in 1965, using the realized measure of CEO compensation, which captures what CEOs took home in pay after any stock-based compensation were sold," according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The numbers have climbed significantly in recent years. "This ratio grew to 31-to-1 in 1978 and 60-to-1 by 1989. It surged in the 1990s, hitting 380-to-1 in 2000, at the end of the 1990s recovery and at the height of the stock market bubble," the EPI showed. Grocery chain CEOs have certainly benefited from rising salaries, which stands out at a time when many Americans have struggled with inflation. Grocery prices have climbed 32% since 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The pay range is very significant, however, as the top-paid CEO made more than $29 million in 2025, while the tenth-highest-paid grocery chain CEO "only" took home $4 million for the year. Half of Americans are struggling to afford food, and food anxiety is a reality for the majority of people, according to LendingTree research. "Six in 10 people have worried about paying for groceries in the past month," the online survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 80 showed. Others key findings included: Americans are struggling to pay for groceries as prices rise. More than half (52%) say they're spending more on food than they were last year, and 49% say it's at least somewhat difficult to afford food right now. Nearly 90% have changed how they shop for groceries to offset higher food prices. Common strategies include paying closer attention to grocery prices (30%), cutting back on "splurge" items (24%), being more mindful of food waste and leftovers (23%), and choosing store or generic brands (23%). Half of Americans (49%) say it's hard to afford food, with just 22% reporting that they have no difficulty affording food right now. An additional 30% say it's not very difficult.The survey was administered using a nonprobability-based sample, and quotas were used to ensure the sample base represented the overall population. "We're coming out of an inflationary period. People's budgets are strained. Everybody sees the price of food," David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University, told CNN. A number of the top players on the list actually no longer hold the top job at their company. Walmart's former CEO Doug McMillon retired earlier this year, while Target's Brian Cornell moved into the executive chairman role, and Kroger's CEO resigned. In addition, Grocery Outlet and Albertsons added new CEOs in 2025. Below is a look at the pay packages of the CEOs of the top U.S. grocery retailers in 2025, first published by Grocery Dive and verified by TheStreet. The data are based on figures in proxy statements the companies filed with the SEC or published on their websites. Publix, it should be noted, is not a publicly traded company, but it's employee-owned, so it does share some financial data, including CEO compensation. Doug McMillon, Walmart: The now-former Walmart CEO made a total of $29.1 million in 2025. That's $25.1 million in salary, and a cash bonus of $4.03 million, according to an SEC filing. He also received 209,611 shares of Walmart stock. Brian Cornell, Target: Cornell, earned $21.8 million during the retailer's fiscal 2025, which began on Feb. 2, 2025, up more than $1.4 million from 2024. His stock awards increased by almost $2.5 million compared with the prior fiscal year, while his bonus declined by more than 40%, according to the company's SEC filing. Susan Morris, Albertsons: In her first year since moving up from the CFO position, Morris earned total compensation of $16.8 million. Her pay, which included a salary of $1.3 million, a $2 million bonus, and more than $11 million in stock awards, was more than twice what she earned in fiscal 2024, according to SEC documents. "Morris is also entitled to use Albertsons' corporate aircraft for up to 100 hours per year for herself, family and guests at no charge, although she is responsible for income tax related to the value of that travel," according to Grocery Dive. Ron Sargent, Kroger: Sargent, chairman of the Kroger board, was never actually its CEO. Instead, he held the interim title from March 2025 through Feb. 2026, and he was paid $14 million during that period, a salary of just under $4 million and $10 million in stock awards, the company shared in its SEC proxy statement. He ceded the top job to Gregory Foran

What Walmart, Target, and Kroger pay their CEOs

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