In a Sept. 30 letter to Whole Foods Market employees published on the retailer’s website, Whole Foods Co-Founder and CEO John Mackey announced he will transition to retirement over the next year.
In the letter, Mackey said he will serve as CEO until September 2022. Chief Operating Officer Jason Buechel will then become Whole Foods Market’s next CEO, Mackey said in the letter.
“Honestly, it’s very hard to retire from a company that I have helped to create, nourish and grow for 44 years when I leave,” he said in the letter. “ As a co-founder of Whole Foods, I’ve often explained my relationship to the company with a parent-child metaphor. As a parent, I have always loved Whole Foods with all my heart. I have done my best to instill strong values, a clear sense of higher purpose beyond profits, and a loving culture that allows the company and all our interdependent stakeholders to flourish. All parents reach a time when they must let go and trust that the values imparted will live on within their children. That time has nearly come for me and for Whole Foods.”
Mackey said Buechel is a “true servant leader” and champion of Whole Foods’ culture and values.
“Jason was my personal choice to replace me as the CEO and I’m pleased Amazon leadership agreed that he is the right person for the role,” Mackey said in the letter.
Buechel joined Whole Foods in 2013 as global vice president and chief information officer and was promoted in 2015 to executive vice president before being named chief operating officer in 2019.
Mackey said he would work with Buechel during the transition.
“I intend to devote much of my final year to the thing I love doing most at Whole Foods – visiting stores and connecting with as many of our amazing Team Members as I possibly can.”
Mackey
Mackey said Whole Foods has added big value to its investors and customers. “Working together, we have helped tens of millions of people live healthier lives and it is not an exaggeration to say that Whole Foods has impacted very positively the way many people in America and around the world eat,” he said.
