Former Wal-Mart CEO Joins Carlyle Group

Carlyle Group LP has enlisted former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Mike Duke to join the stable of executives the private-equity firm taps to help it find and vet deals and steer the companies it owns.

Mr. Duke, 65 years old, retired from Wal-Mart in early 2014 after five years in the top job at the world's largest retailer. At Carlyle, he will work with a group of deal-makers at the Washington, D.C., firm that buys and invests in consumer product and retail companies.

The position as a so-called operating executive is akin to being a paid consultant for the firm, rather than an employee, and will allow Mr. Duke to continue to serve as a member of Wal-Mart's board. It won't prevent him from taking on other roles elsewhere.

"Mike will be an invaluable addition to our team, helping drive value creation within our existing portfolio and adding a new dimension as we research new investments," said Sandra Horbach, who leads Carlyle's consumer and retail buyout group.

Carlyle has about 25 of these operating executives who have held high-ranking positions at organizations ranging from International Business Machines Corp. to the Internal Revenue Service and other private-equity firms. They work with Carlyle's full-time investment professionals, often assigned to specific industry groups, and counsel executives at companies in which Carlyle invests. They also are frequently asked to serve on the boards of Carlyle-owned companies.

Mr. Duke said his relationship with Carlyle co-founder and co-CEO David Rubenstein, whom he has served with on the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing, led to his joining the firm. He said he plans to lend Carlyle "strategic guidance, and that could be through the investment process or the operating process."

The consumer and retail group has invested about $12 billion over the years in companies ranging from doughnut shop chain Dunkin" Brands Group Inc. to headphone maker Beats Electronics LLC and Moncler SpA, an Italian maker of luxury clothing.

Mr. Duke's tenure atop Wal-Mart was marked by significant expansion outside the U.S. The Bentonville, Ark., company added 6,200 international stores during his five years on the job, and the company's shares rose by 58%.

Before becoming CEO in 2009, Mr. Duke was vice chairman and led Wal-Mart International for four years. An engineer by training, he joined the retailer in 1995 and at times led its logistics, distribution and administration businesses as well as Wal-Mart U.S. He spent more than 20 years with Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores before joining Wal-Mart.

Write to Ryan Dezember at [e-mail]

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