Gary Millerchip relinquished his role as CFO of The Kroger Co. and on Tuesday was named CFO of Costco Wholesale, taking over from long-serving Costco CFO Richard Galanti. The change takes effect on March 15, but Galanti will remain on Costco’s board of directors. He will also remain in an advisory capacity until 2025.
To replace Millerchip, grocery giant Kroger named corporate controller and chief accounting officer Todd Foley as interim finance chief. The change comes as Kroger awaits regulatory action on its proposed $24.6 billion purchase of supermarket operator Albertsons.
Foley joined Kroger in 2001 and has served as assistant corporate controller, vice president and treasurer, and most recently as group vice president, corporate controller, and chief accounting officer.
Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO, called Foley “a proven leader who has served in key finance roles and has contributed meaningfully to Kroger's growth and transformation over more than 20 years.”
McMullen said Kroger is “fortunate to benefit from an incredibly deep bench of talent across our finance team and all levels of our organization.”
At a StrategicCFO360 conference in December, Millerchip pointed out that “most of my direct reports have worked in three or four different functions within the finance organization; they all kind of step into each other's shoes and empathize with each other and work as a team.”
Millerchip was slated to be CFO of the Kroger-Alberstons combination. The deal was first announced in October 2022, but the companies have been awaiting an antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission. A decision is expected soon. The transaction would bring together the two largest supermarket operators in the United States; combined, they own nearly 5,000 locations.
In the press release announcing the CFO change, Millerchip said, "I am proud of all we have accomplished at Kroger and have made the decision to transition into a new chapter in my career.”
He joined Kroger in 2008 as CEO of Kroger Personal Finance, the company’s financial services arm, and before that was head of a credit card division at Royal Bank of Scotland.
Millerchip received a StrategicCFO360 CFO Leadership award in December for “digital visionary.” He has helped lead the construction of a digital business that generates more than $10 billion in revenue, CFO reported in December. Kroger has removed $1 billion of costs each of the last five years partly through automation and supply chain optimization.
Costco CEO Ron Vachris said, “Over his nearly 40-year tenure as chief financial officer at the company, Richard [Galanti] has made innumerable and invaluable contributions to its success ... He is widely known, admired, and respected among our shareholders, employees, business partners, and others. We express our deepest gratitude for his long and loyal service.”