The chief executives of the largest grocers in the U.S. continued to take home handsome pay packages in 2025, with several earning more than $10 million.
Doug McMillon, who retired earlier this year as president and CEO of Walmart, again led the way, taking home a pay package worth more than $29 million — up from $27.4 million in 2024. Brian Cornell, who earned almost $22 million during his last full year as Target’s CEO, was the only other CEO to top the $20 million pay mark.
The roster of grocery CEOs looked a bit different in 2025 than it did in 2024, as Kroger, Albertsons and Grocery Outlet all finished the year with different leaders than had when it began.
The new faces included Ron Sargent — who earned more than $14 million last year serving as interim CEO of Kroger following the sudden resignation of Rodney McMullen — and Susan Morris, who more than doubled her pay when she took over as Albertsons’ CEO in May 2025. Grocery Outlet CEO Jason Potter, who joined the discount grocery chain in February 2025, received $9.5 million in compensation during his first year leading the company.
On the other hand, Tony Sarsam, who earned $7 million as president and CEO of SpartanNash in 2024, left his position following the company’s purchase by C&S Wholesale Grocers last year.
Below is a look at the compensation packages of the CEOs of the top publicly traded U.S. grocery retailers in 2025. The data is based on figures in proxy statements the companies filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission or published on their websites.
Doug McMillon
Walmart
$29.2 million
Doug McMillon, who served as Walmart President and CEO until his retirement on Jan. 31, earned $29.2 million during the company’s fiscal 2026, which began on Feb. 1, 2025, up from $27.4 million during the prior year. Most of his compensation consisted of stock awards, which amounted to more than $21 million. McMillon also earned a base salary of $1.5 million. His successor, John Furner, took home a pay package worth $27.3 million during Walmart’s most recent fiscal year.
Brian Cornell
Target
$21.8 million
Brian Cornell, who was Target’s chief executive until he transitioned to executive chair on Feb. 1, brought home $21.8 million during the retailer’s fiscal 2025, which began on Feb. 2, 2025 — up more than $1.4 million from the previous year. His stock awards increased by almost $2.5 million compared with the prior fiscal year, even as his bonus declined by more than 40%. Michael Fiddelke, Cornell’s successor as CEO, earned $9.6 million.
Susan Morris
Albertsons
$16.8 million
Susan Morris received a compensation package worth almost $16.8 million in fiscal 2025, her first year as CEO of Albertsons. Her pay, which included a salary of $1.3 million, a $2 million bonus and more than $11 million in stock awards, was more than twice what she earned in fiscal 2024, when she was Albertsons’ chief operations officer. Morris is also entitled to use Albertsons’ corporate aircraft for up to 100 hours per year for herself, family and guests at no charge, although she is responsible for income tax related to the value of that travel. She succeeded Vivek Sankaran as CEO of the company on May 1, 2025.
How much did grocery industry CEOs earn in 2025?
Ron Sargent
Kroger
$14 million
Ron Sargent, who took over leadership of Kroger in March 2025 upon the abrupt departure of former Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen, earned just over $14 million last year as interim CEO of Kroger in fiscal 2025. His package included a salary of just under $4 million and $10 million in stock awards. Sargent handed the reins of the nation’s largest conventional supermarket chain to former Walmart executive Greg Foran, who became Kroger’s CEO in February.
Jack Sinclair
Sprouts Farmers Market
$11.5 million
Jack Sinclair took home a compensation package valued at just over $11.5 million in fiscal 2025, 6% less than he earned in fiscal 2024 as Sprouts’ CEO. Sinclair’s pay included a salary of almost $1.3 million, almost $5 million in stock awards and over $3.6 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation.
Sandy Douglas
United Natural Foods, Inc.
$9.7 million
Sandy Douglas scored a sharp pay increase in fiscal 2025 as CEO of United Natural Foods, Inc. His compensation of almost $9.7 million included more than $6.6 million in stock awards — well above the $5 million in stock awards he received in the prior fiscal year. Douglas earned a salary of just over $1 million, essentially unchanged from the year before.
Jason Potter
Grocery Outlet
$9.5 million
Jason Potter, a former chief executive of The Fresh Market who joined Grocery Outlet in February 2025, earned just over $9.5 million as CEO of the discount grocer in fiscal 2025. His pay included a $925,000 salary, $4.1 million in stock awards and almost $500,000 in non-equity incentive plan compensation. Potter replaced Eric Lindberg, who became interim CEO when former Grocery Outlet President and CEO RJ Sheedy left the company.
Frans Muller
Ahold Delhaize
$8.6 million
Frans Muller’s compensation package as president and CEO of Ahold Delhaize was valued at more than 7.5 million euros, or about $8.6 million as of June 24. That figure included a base salary of 1.3 million euros, a 1.6-million-euro cash incentive and a long-term share-based incentive of over 4 million euros. The Dutch grocery company announced in May that Muller will retire next year and be replaced by Thierry Garnier, CEO of U.K.-based home improvement company Kingfisher.
Jonathan Weis
Weis Markets
$6.8 million
Jonathan Weis earned just under $6.8 million in 2025 as chairman, president and CEO of Weis Markets. That sum mainly consisted of a salary of about $1.4 million and approximately $5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation. Weis’ pay package was down by more than a quarter in 2025 from the year before, when he earned almost $9.3 million.
Kevin Murphy
Publix
$4.2 million
In his second year as CEO of Publix, Kevin Murphy took home a pay package worth more than $4.2 million in 2025. His compensation included a $3.4 million salary and about $565,000 in non-equity incentive plan compensation. By comparison, Murphy’s total pay as leader of the Florida-based supermarket chain was about $3.4 million in 2024.
