When a company asks for your business, they are asking for your trust. Who you trust to feed your family and spend your hard-earned money with is a decision that can affect your health, your safety, and your bank account. So it’s fair to ask, “who’s in charge of my grocery store, and can I trust them?” At Kroger, the answer is: a leadership team with a troubled past and an uncertain future; as for trust, many Kroger customers are not convinced.
In the span of about 15 months, Kroger’s longtime CEO resigned due to a mysterious personal-conduct scandal, the company cycled through an interim chief and installed a new CEO from Walmart at a cost that made headlines while a string of senior executives headed for the exits. The last few years at Kroger have seen lawsuits, layoffs, store closures, and scandal. Here's what happened, and why a company this dysfunctional at the top is bad news for the families it serves.
Act 1: A CEO Out Over "Personal Conduct"
For years, Kroger was run by Rodney McMullen, a company lifer who became CEO in 2014. Then, in early 2025, his tenure ended abruptly in scandal and speculation:
In February 2025, Kroger's board learned of "certain personal conduct" by McMullen, hired outside independent counsel, and opened an investigation.
In March, McMullen resigned. Kroger said his conduct was "inconsistent with Kroger's Policy on Business Ethics," but claimed that it was "unrelated to the Company's financial performance, operations or reporting," and that it "did not involve any Kroger associates."
McMullen forfeited millions in unvested stock awards and bonus compensation, a steep financial penalty that raises serious questions about the gravity of his actions.
Kroger never disclosed what he actually did.
The details of McMullen’s conduct became a fight in two separate lawsuits, and in both, he ultimately kept them from becoming public. In 2023, singer Jewel’s company and a partner sued Kroger in Ohio regarding a dispute about their role in a Kroger wellness festival. In 2025, McMullen’s lawyer attempted to get him excused from testifying about his resignation, arguing the details were “irrelevant and embarrassing.” The judge disagreed and ordered McMullen to explain the facts in writing, but, after reviewing the explanation in private, concluded the conduct wasn’t relevant to this case and kept it sealed.
After McMullen oversaw Kroger's unsuccessful attempt to buy the supermarket chain Albertsons (2022 - 2024,) Albertsons abandoned the merger and immediately sued Kroger. McMullen’s resignation came up in the litigation, with Albertsons' lawyers arguing his conduct raised concerns about "his credibility, integrity, and compliance with the law." They questioned whether it "distracted from or conflicted with his obligations to Kroger during the merger process," but a Delaware judge ultimately ruled the details didn't need to be disclosed.Because Kroger never stated what happened, speculation filled the void; some have tied McMullen's exit to a relationship connected to the Albertsons deal, but no court filing, company statement, or news outlet has substantiated that claim. While the exact reason for McMullen’s dramatic exit remains a mystery, the facts speak for themselves: the CEO of one of America's largest grocers was disgraced into resignation over personal conduct his own board found unethical and the company has kept its customers in the dark to this day.
Act 2: The Revolving Door
While losing a CEO to a personal conduct scandal is one incident, a wave of layoffs, closures, and executive departures points to something bigger than one man.
After McMullen's exit, board chairman Ron Sargent stepped in as interim CEO. Then, in February 2026, Kroger named a permanent CEO: Greg Foran, the former head of Walmart's U.S. business. Meanwhile, the senior ranks were emptying out.
Even before the new CEO arrived, the chaos had begun:
Stuart Aitken, the Chief Merchandising & Marketing Officer, left at the end of 2024.
The company changed Chief Financial Officers, bringing in an outsider (David Kennerley, from PepsiCo) in spring 2025.
Christine Wheatley, the General Counsel of 11 years and 17-year Kroger veteran retired in September 2025.
84.51°, the Kroger unit that powers its loyalty-card tracking, lost two senior leaders in early 2025 as well.
In 2025 alone, Kroger cut its workforce in at least three separate corporate rounds: roughly 200 jobs in February, another 200 at 84.51° in March, and nearly 1,000 more corporate positions in August. Kroger also announced plans to close 60 stores and shutter its automated fulfillment network, eliminating close to 2,000 additional jobs.
Then came the cluster under Greg Foran (2026):
Gabriel Arreaga, the Chief Supply Chain Officer, left in March 2026.
Joe Kelley, a Senior VP over retail divisions, left for another grocery company in spring2026.
Jamie Lancaster, an 18-year company veteran leading a key operations center, departed in May 2026.
Valerie Jabbar, a 38-year Kroger veteran and Senior VP over retail divisions, retired in May 2026.
Tim Massa, the top HR executive (Chief Associate Experience Officer) and a 16-year veteran, announced his retirement in May 2026.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, Kroger's hometown newspaper, corroborates this, reporting that the wave of exits made 2026 "among the busiest years of the decade for turnover among Kroger's senior executives.” The paper noted bluntly that the new CEO's to-do list now "include[s] rebuilding his senior leadership team."
While retirements are expected and do have to happen sometime, when longtime company veterans and the heads of supply chain, HR, legal, and merchandising all leave a corporation within a year and a half, questions arise about the company culture - and what they know that we don’t.
Act 3: So Who's in Charge Now?
The man entrusted with cleaning up Kroger's mess is Greg Foran, whose newsworthy pay package and leadership role through a controversial period of Walmart history warrant examination. Foran oversaw Walmart's U.S. business during the years its pharmacists were sounding the alarm on suspicious opioid prescriptions - a failure of oversight that eventually cost Walmart $3.1 billion in settlements. He now runs a company that has paid more than $1.4 billion in settlements for its role in the same epidemic.
For running Kroger, Foran's reported pay package stands to reach up to $17 million or more, including a budget for private jet travel. Above him, Ron Sargent remains chairman of the board, having presided over the company's pricing controversies, worker disputes, and opioid settlements.
Why Families Should Care
So why does it matter and what does the org chart of a grocery company really mean for you at the checkout line?
A company’s resources aren’t unlimited, and it prioritizes whatever poses the greatest threat to its reputation and survival. Right now, Kroger is spending an enormous share of its attention rebuilding its executive team, while already under public scrutiny for customer data collection, controversial pricing technology, labor disputes, and escalating food safety recalls. A company in turmoil is not focused on lowering your prices, watching its suppliers, or protecting your data.
Ultimately, Kroger's leadership crisis is about more than turnover; it's about trust and accountability. A CEO gets pushed out over conduct serious enough to cost him millions, and the company won't tell its own customers why. A company that keeps that kind of secret is one that puts itself first. Which raises the real question every shopper should be asking: if Kroger won't be straight with you about leadership misconduct, why would it be straight with you about your prices, your food, or your data?
Families deserve a grocer that's stable, transparent, and focused on them, not on burying its latest scandal.
Have a Kroger experience to share? Tell us your story at KrogerHurtsFamilies.com.
Sources
Kroger Announces Resignation of CEO Rodney McMullen — SEC Form 8-K, The Kroger Co. (March 3, 2025)
McMullen to be deposed in Jewel health-festival lawsuit — Supermarket News (April 14, 2025)
Albertsons demands to know: what did Kroger's CEO do to get fired? — BoiseDev (July 30, 2025)
Kroger ex-CEO Rodney McMullen ordered to testify about resignation — Supermarket News (Aug. 8, 2025)
Albertsons' attorneys want to know why Kroger ousted CEO. Now he has to tell judge about it in case involving singer Jewel — BoiseDev (Aug. 8, 2025)
A lawsuit involving Kroger and singer Jewel could shed light on why the former supermarket CEO mysteriously resigned — CNN Business (Aug. 15, 2025)
In re Albertsons Cos., Inc. v. The Kroger Co., C.A. No. 2024-1276-LWW — Delaware Court of Chancery opinion, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will (Sept. 12, 2025)
Kroger wins bid to withhold details on McMullen's departure — Supermarket News (Sept. 16, 2025)
Kroger can withhold details about why McMullen resigned, court rules — Grocery Dive (Sept. 17, 2025)
Ex-Kroger CEO Allowed to Keep Details of His Departure a Secret — Progressive Grocer (Sept. 18, 2025)
Kroger names former Walmart US head Greg Foran as CEO — Grocery Dive (Feb. 9, 2026)
Kroger Appoints Greg Foran as Chief Executive Officer — SEC Form 8-K, The Kroger Co. (Feb. 9, 2026)
Kroger loses four top executives under new CEO Greg Foran — Cincinnati Enquirer, via AOL (A. Coolidge, May 27, 2026)
Another Kroger executive departs [Jamie Lancaster] — Grocery Dive (May 18, 2026)
Kroger loses another senior executive [Valerie Jabbar] — Grocery Dive (May 26, 2026)
Top Kroger human resources official to retire [Tim Massa] — Grocery Dive (May 27, 2026)
Kroger SVP Valerie Jabbar Retires — Third Top Exec to Depart this Year — Retail TouchPoints (June 2, 2026)
Kroger CMO Stuart Aitken to step down — Grocery Dive (Nov. 22, 2024)
Kroger Announces David Kennerley as Incoming Chief Financial Officer — SEC Form 8-K, The Kroger Co. (Feb. 12, 2025)
George Vincent Named as Kroger Secretary and General Counsel — The Kroger Co. investor relations, via PR Newswire (July 22, 2025)
Kroger cuts jobs at 84.51° — Grocery Dive (March 18, 2025)
Walmart Announces Nationwide Opioid Settlement Framework — Walmart Corporate Newsroom (Nov. 15, 2022)
Kroger CEO compensation disclosures — National Today (Feb. 10, 2026)
Kroger launches new round of job cuts impacting roughly 200 downtown employees — WCPO 9 Cincinnati (Dan Monk, March 13, 2025)
Kroger announces corporate layoffs, structural changes — Grocery Dive (Aug. 26, 2025)
