U.S. e-commerce chief Walmart Marc Lore waves goodbye to a crook of a digital business he helped tax in less than five years.
The company said Friday that Lore will retire on January 31 and will remain as strategic advisor until September.
Lore’s new mission – although it provides only a few details in an interview with Yahoo Finance – is to take cities around the world to the next level. Presumably given Lore’s technology-heavy resume, this means a focus on accelerating the adoption of smart cities.
“I have a vision for a new model for society where people are happier and have a higher quality of life and perhaps compensate for the things that are not entirely right for capitalism,” Lore said.
In the right way, Lore said he wanted to create a new city from scratch and prove his new model, but did not decide on a location.
‘The city will also be more sustainable, it will be safer, less noise pollution, it will be, you know, the transport will be public transport and much more efficient. We will take all the knowledge of existing cities and everything we have learned and build from scratch, ”Lore explained, adding that the city will be very technology-friendly and ideal for millions of people.
What’s more, this new city will be built on a ‘reformed version of capitalism’. While Lore’s view of capitalism requires a much longer and more nuanced discussion than the ten-minute telephone conversation would allow, he said he spent a lot of time thinking about it and talking about it.
‘At some point we can talk in more detail, but the reformed version of capitalism is like not changing capitalism at all, and it is nowhere to be found in socialism. It is simply capitalism, with more opportunities and a gap in income and prosperity inequality, ”he said.
According to Lore, the way to create this economic model is not done with higher taxes or socialism.
‘It’s the magic and I think that’s why I’m so excited I’ve found a way to do it without higher taxes without it being socialism. In fact, if it works well, we can both have, we can have lower taxes and less inequality, with still the same upside, you know without also limiting someone’s upside. ”
Although it sounds like the “Holy Grail”, Lore believes there is a path that can be reached with a clean slate.
‘Like anything, if I were to go there and explain it to people, you know that some people would get it, some would believe it, others not. It will be very difficult to implement something like this in an existing country or city because it is so different. This is such a different way of approaching it. With a clean slate and a new city, you can, you know, prove it, you know, unhindered. ‘
Lore told Yahoo Finance he’s been thinking about the move for six months or so while the retailer plans its long-term digital strategy.
The world’s largest retailer acquired Lore’s Jet.com in 2016 for $ 3.3 billion in cash. Although some on Wall Street at the time considered the purchase price to be high, the impact that Lore and the Jet.com people have had on Walmart since the deal was signed in September 2016 cannot be denied. Walmart closed Jet.com in March 2020.
Not only did the Jet.com people infuse Walmart’s once slow-moving digital ranks with new thinking and speed, but Lore fueled a deployment of Amazon offensive delivery services and meaningfully enhanced the online and mobile shopping experiences.
Walmart’s online sales rose every quarter (this also includes before the coronavirus pandemic) after the Jet.com deal closed. Shares in Walmart rose 100% with the closing of the Jet.com deal (the Dow Jones industrial average rose 70%), mainly because the street views Walmart as an e-commerce leader.
To keep the online momentum going, Walmart CEO John Furner is now falling into the US.
CEO Doug McMillon wasted no time praising Lore’s work in an internal memorandum to employees acquired by Yahoo Finance.
‘Since the acquisition of Jet, we’ve seen our growth in e-commerce accelerate – including rapid growth in our online grocery business. Marc’s leadership has helped ensure that we are able to respond to the question driven by the pandemic this year. All of these advances are, of course, the result of the good work of many people, but Marc’s expertise and aggressiveness have changed. We learned a lot from him. I personally learned a lot from him, “said McMillon.
Brian Sozzi is a general editor and anchor by Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and so on LinkedIn. Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her further Twitter.
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