Walmart International has appointed Chris Nicholas as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective February 2026. In his new role, Nicholas is responsible for overseeing Walmart’s international businesses across multiple markets, building on the group’s global growth strategy.
He announced this move via a linkedin post.
Prior to this appointment, Chris Nicholas served as President and CEO of Sam’s Club from September 2023 to February 2026, where he led the membership-based retail business through a period of operational and commercial focus.
Nicholas has held several senior leadership roles within Walmart over more than five years. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Walmart U.S. between October 2021 and September 2023, following a brief tenure as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Walmart U.S. from February 2021 to October 2021. Earlier, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Walmart International from January 2020 to February 2021, after serving as Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Walmart International from August 2018 to January 2020.
Alongside his executive roles, Nicholas has held board responsibilities, including as a board member of Asda from March 2021 to September 2023 and as a board member of Walmex, Walmart de Mexico, from October 2019 to February 2021.
Before joining Walmart, Nicholas spent close to four years at Coles in Australia, where he held multiple leadership roles. He served as Chief Financial Officer in 2018, Chief Merchant from August 2016 to March 2018, and Finance Director from November 2014 to August 2016.
He previously worked as Group Finance Director at Dansk Supermarked from June 2013 to October 2014. Prior to that, Nicholas spent over 12 years at Tesco PLC in a range of senior finance roles across geographies. His positions included Chief Financial Officer of Tesco Poland, Chief Financial Officer of Tesco Hungary, Group Treasurer, International Treasury Director, Group Audit Head for Asia based in Hong Kong, and various finance manager roles spanning property, commercial operations, retail operations, IT and distribution.
Nicholas began his career at Siemens, where he worked as an International Commercial Manager between 1999 and 2001.
