James D. Sinegal (born January 1, 1936) is an American billionaire businessman, co-founder and former CEO of the Costco Wholesale Corporation,[1] an international retail chain.

As CEO of Costco, Sinegal was known for his hands-on humanitarian approach to business, which he learned from his mentor, Sol Price.

Sinegal's innovations made Costco the first "warehouse club" to include fresh food, eye-care clinics, pharmacies, and gas stations in its mix of goods and services.

[3] Sinegal was a protégé of Sol Price, widely considered to be the "father"[5] of the "warehouse club" concept.

Sinegal, through Costco, provided his employees — at every level of the company, including the stores — compensation and benefits that are much higher than retail industry norms.

[7] In 1993, when growing competition threatened both Price Club and Costco Wholesale, Sinegal was invited to a partial merger.

The new company, named PriceCostco, Inc., focused heavily on international expansion, opening stores in Mexico, South Korea and England.

In an interview published in the Houston Chronicle on July 17, 2005, he told Steven Greenhouse that he did not care about Wall Street analysts who had criticised him for putting good treatment of employees and customers ahead of pleasing shareholders.

[19][20] Sinegal received an honorary doctorate from Dartmouth College alongside Jake Tapper and others in June 2017.