For a folksy southerner from rural Georgia who spent his childhood eating food grown on the family farm and buying clothes on rare trips to a five-and-dime store, Mike Duke has accumulated an eclectic array of retailing achievements.
Since the start of last year alone, Walmart’s chief executive has won Michelle Obama’s endorsement for the company’s healthy eating initiatives; overcome union opposition to win a foothold in Africa; outlasted Bo Xilai, who tormented Walmart in China; and seen off a huge lawsuit over sex discrimination against its US staff.
But in the past week all that has been forgotten. Mr Duke, a craggy 62-year old with a gap-toothed smile, faces devastating allegations that senior Walmart executives hushed up a campaign of bribery to secure construction permits in Mexico. The allegations are the biggest test of a 40-year career for the plain but affable boy from the warehouses, who rose through the nuts-and-bolts ranks of Walmart’s logistics division.