Rodney McMullen

Career In 1978, McMullen began working part-time as a stock clerk at a Kroger grocery store in Lexington, Kentucky, while a university student. His work included price tagging items, bagging groceries, receiving product, and running the register.

McMullen became the CEO of Kroger on January 1, 2014, succeeding David Dillon. He was appointed as chairman of the company in 2015. In 2025, McMullen resigned as chairman and CEO after a board investigation found that his personal conduct was inconsistent with the grocer's "policy on business ethics."

McMullen is a non-executive director of Cincinnati Financial.

In 2020, his salary plus bonuses plus various stock options totaled $20,578,119.

In 2021, McMullen's salary was listed at $1.34 million, while the median employee salary at Kroger that year was a bit more than $24,000. This indicates McMullen makes 5,348 percent of the median salary, which is one of the largest wage gaps in America. His total compensation for 2021 was $18 million.

In 2022, McMullen's total compensation rose $1 million to $19 million, with the ratio of McMullen's pay to that of the median Kroger worker for that year standing at 671-to-1.

Personal life He is married to Kathryn King McMullen, whom he met when they were both students at the University of Kentucky.