- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to Honest Company CEO Carla Vernón about Walmart’s Doug McMillon.
- The big story: Crypto founder Do Kwon gets 15 years in prison.
- The markets: New all-time high.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. I’m always fascinated by who CEOs turn to for feedback, and who they choose to mentor outside their companies. Some relationships develop organically through working with people who become friends after you move on. (I feel fortunate to remain connected to former bosses like Norman Pearlstine, as well as numerous colleagues over the years.)
Then there are the leaders whose names come up because they offered advice or made a gesture that was meaningful to another CEO. One of those names is Walmart’s Doug McMillon, who is retiring as CEO next month after 12 years at the helm. A lot will be written about his legacy in transforming the world’s largest retailer into a daunting competitor in the digital realm. But Carla Vernón, CEO of the Honest Company, recently recounted a story about him that stuck with me.
About a year ago, Vernón said, she had an opportunity to meet McMillon for about 30 seconds at an event. Instead of talking about the business that her $383 million-a-year company does with the $704 billion-a-year Walmart, she took a different tack: “I said, ‘I want to be an extraordinary CEO. You are, in my view, one of the best of our time. So, if I could borrow a bit more time from you, I would love to ask you a question or two.”
