Good morning! Fei-Fei Li’s startup developed a 3D-scene generation system, a scorecard by former Fox News hosts tracks companies on employee-silencing practices, and these are three women to know at Walmart.
– Shop smart. As the holiday season nears its apex, retailers are busy. That’s doubly true for America’s largest retailer: Walmart, the $650 billion giant that sits at No. 1 on the Fortune 500.
Strategizing Walmart’s holiday season are three key executives, as my colleague Phil Wahba explores in a new Fortune story. They are:
—Latriece Watkins, chief merchant at Walmart U.S.
—Megan Crozier, chief merchant at Sam’s Club
—And Andrea Albright, executive vice president for sourcing, who oversees suppliers
From left: Ethan Miller—Getty Images (2); Courtesy of Walmart
Watkins tells Phil that the chief merchant is, in a way, America’s personal shopper. Her team—for the company’s biggest division with 69% of its sales—decides what products makes it onto store shelves and online.
Crozier’s journey to Sam’s Club chief merchant included stints dedicated to buying cameras, food, and iPods. These days, Sam’s Club is adding new products like lab-grown diamonds—in time for peak engagement season. The membership-only retailer and Costco competitor is responsible for about 13% of Walmart’s annual sales.
Merchant jobs can lead to bigger things at major retailers; Walmart CEO Doug McMillion and U.S. CEO John Furner both spent time as senior merchants. So alongside other Walmart leaders like Walmart International chief Kath McLay these three women are execs to keep an eye on—through this holiday season and beyond.
Read Phil’s full story here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
– 2D to 3D. Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs has developed an AI system that creates an interactive 3D scene from a single image. The startup, launched by the “Godmother of AI” earlier this year and valued at over $1 billion, is part of a growing category in the AI space called “world models.” TechCrunch
– Scoring system. Advocacy group Lift Our Voices, cofounded by former Fox News hosts Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, created a scorecard to grade Russell 3000 companies. Surveys sent to the companies will ask about their use of nondisclosure agreements and forced arbitration, practices often used to keep workplace sexual harassment and discrimination quiet. Axios
– Landmark case. The Supreme Court today will hear a case challenging a Tennessee law that bans some medical care for transgender youth. It’s the court’s second major case about transgender rights, arriving after trans issues have become a key political issue for the GOP. The outcome will influence what protections trans people can claim under the equal protection clause. CNN
– Work now, rest later. Women 55 and up are staying in the workforce longer and retiring later, both because, for some, they love working and because they have to in order to be able to retire. Thirty-three percent of women older than 55 participated in the labor force in 2023, up 7% from 2000 per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Washington Post
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
OpenAI hired Coinbase’s Kate Rouch as its first CMO.
Susan Diamond will be stepping down as CFO of Humana, a health and wellness company. Celeste Mellet will be the next CFO; she is currently CFO at Global Infrastructure Partners.
Carolina Panthers president Kristi Coleman, one of two female presidents in the NFL, was promoted to CEO of Tepper Sports and Entertainment, adding oversight of Charlotte FC and Bank of America Stadium.
Aurorium, a specialty ingredients and materials provider, named Faye Freeman CEO. She is currently president of the company.
Dow, a materials science company, named Karen Carter chief operating officer. She is currently president of Dow packaging and specialty plastics.
Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan, appointed Ellen Sexton as EVP and chief growth officer. Most recently, she was COO at Curative.
Adobe appointed Lara Balazs as CMO and EVP, global marketing. Previously, Balazs was CMO and general manager, strategic partner group at Intuit.
Zilliant, a pricing lifecycle management company, named Lauren van Heerden SVP of customer experience. Previously, she was global leader for industry cloud customer success at Salesforce.
MetLife Investment Management, MetLife’s institutional asset management arm, named Kerry O’Brien global head of insurance asset management and liability solutions. Most recently, she served as head of insurance portfolio management at Insight Investment.
ON MY RADAR
Women bosses made gains this year—just not in the blue-chip C-suite Wall Street Journal
How Glossier got its glow back Inc.
Misogyny comes roaring back The Atlantic
PARTING WORDS
“We always tell businesses: Map out all your risk and worst-case scenarios…We were forced to practice what we preach.”
— Carolyn Rodz, cofounder and CEO of Hello Alice, on keeping the company going while fighting an anti-affirmative action lawsuit
