Walter Craig Jelinek (born August 8, 1952) is an American businessman who served as president and CEO of Costco from 2012 to 2023, when he succeeded the company's founder, James Sinegal.
[4] Jelinek started his career at FedMart and was later an operations manager for the company in Los Angeles.
Jelinek was named president in 2010 and took over as CEO in 2012 after the retirement of founder James Sinegal.
[12] In 2018, Jelinek's annual base salary was $800,000 as stated by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
[13] His base salary increased to $1,000,000 in 2020; that same year, Jelinek's total compensation was $8,279,552 per an SEC filing by Costco.