Michael J. Bender

Chief Executive Officer Kohl’s

Last Reviewed: September 29, 2026

Executive Summary

Michael J. Bender is Chief Executive Officer of Kohl’s, the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, department store chain and omnichannel retailer. He came to the job from inside the boardroom rather than the executive suite: a Kohl’s director since 2019 and Board Chair from May 2024, he stepped in as interim CEO in May 2025 and was appointed to the role permanently in November 2025 after an external search. His career runs through three decades of operating roles in consumer businesses, from PepsiCo and Victoria’s Secret store operations to Cardinal Health, Walmart, where he was Chief Operating Officer of Global eCommerce, and Eyemart Express, which he ran as chief executive. He is also a director of Acuity.

Career Highlights

• Chief Executive Officer of Kohl’s since 23 November 2025, appointed unanimously by the Board after serving as interim CEO from May 2025.
• Kohl’s director since 2019, and Chair of the Board from May 2024 until he became interim CEO.
• President and CEO of Eyemart Express, a national optical retailer, from January 2018 to April 2022, having joined as President in September 2017.
• Chief Operating Officer of Walmart’s Global eCommerce business from 2014 to 2017, following Walmart roles as EVP and President of the West business unit, SVP of the Mountain Division and VP and General Manager for the Southwest.
• Senior positions at Cardinal Health from 2003 to 2007, including President and General Manager of Retail and Alternate Care.
• Vice President of Store Operations for Victoria’s Secret Stores at L Brands, 1999 to 2002, after some fifteen years at PepsiCo.
• Director of Acuity since September 2022; formerly a director of Ryman Hospitality Properties for about fifteen years.

Professional Journey

Bender began his career at PepsiCo in 1984 and spent roughly fifteen years there in sales, finance and operating roles. In 1999 he moved into specialty retail as Vice President of Store Operations for Victoria’s Secret Stores, part of L Brands, and in 2003 joined Cardinal Health, where he held senior positions including President and General Manager of its Retail and Alternate Care business.

He joined Walmart in 2009 as a vice president and general manager in the Southwest, then ran its Mountain Division as Senior Vice President and, from 2011, the West business unit as Executive Vice President and President. In 2014 he became Chief Operating Officer of Walmart’s Global eCommerce business, a role Kohl’s describes as bridging digital and physical retail, and held it until early 2017.

Eyemart Express, a Texas-based optical retailer with lens labs in its stores and then more than 230 locations, brought him in as President in September 2017 and made him President and Chief Executive Officer from January 2018, succeeding Doug Barnes, Jr., who became chairman. He led the company until April 2022.

Alongside those executive roles he has held public company board seats. He served on the board of Ryman Hospitality Properties from 2004 until 2019, joined the Kohl’s board in July 2019 while running Eyemart, and joined Acuity’s board in September 2022. At Kohl’s he became Chair of the Board in May 2024.

On 30 April 2025 the Kohl’s Board appointed him interim Chief Executive Officer, and he stepped down as Chair under the company’s governance guidelines. The Board ran a search with an external firm and in November 2025 unanimously appointed him CEO, effective 23 November. Since then he has rebuilt much of the senior team, adding a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Customer Officer role that brings marketing, loyalty and digital commerce together, and a new Chief Merchandising Officer during 2026. Reporting second-quarter fiscal 2026 results in August 2026, he pointed to an improving comparable-sales trend, higher gross margin and a stronger balance sheet, and Kohl’s raised its full-year outlook and restarted share repurchases.

Education

No educational record was found in a primary source. The Kohl’s, Acuity and Ryman Hospitality filings reviewed do not state his degrees.