Walmart announced that Chief Executive Doug McMillon will retire on Jan. 31 after more than a decade leading the company.
McMillon, 59, will be succeeded by John Furner, 51, the current head of Walmart's U.S. division and a 30-year company veteran.
The transition was described by Walmart as planned, though it came earlier than some analysts anticipated.
Shares initially dipped but later recovered, closing down about 0.6%.
McMillon will serve as an adviser through Jan. 31, 2027.
McMillon assumed the role in February 2014, succeeding Mike Duke, at a time when Walmart was racing to catch up with Amazon in e-commerce.
He leveraged the company's store network for faster deliveries, introduced automation in warehouses, and grew the marketplace and advertising segments.
Global e-commerce sales rose from just over $10 billion to more than $120 billion in the latest fiscal year.
Walmart's market value has tripled to $817 billion under his leadership, with shares up 323% since 2014, outperforming the S&P 500.
The company now operates over 10,000 stores in 19 countries and reported roughly $680 billion in revenue last year.
Furner, who joined Walmart as an hourly associate in 1993, has led Sam's Club and the U.S. business.
He guided the U.S. division through pandemic disruptions, inflation, and recent tariff changes, with sales up nearly 5% in the latest quarter.
McMillon stated that Furner is "uniquely capable of leading the company through this next AI-driven transformation."
Furner will become the sixth CEO since Walmart's 1962 founding, inheriting a retailer strengthened in digital capabilities and supply chain efficiency.
Walmart is set to report quarterly results next week amid ongoing economic uncertainty and shifting consumer spending.