Craig Jelinek Biography, Net Worth, Age, Height, Weight, Girlfriend, Family, Fact, and More

Craig Jelinek is an American business executive. He serves as the President and CEO of wholesale corporation Costco since 1 January 2012.

Craig Jelinek Biography and Net Worth

Craig Jelinek Early Life

Walter Craig Jelinek born on 8 August 1952 in Los Angeles, California, United States. His father was in the aircraft manufacturing business. Craig grew up in sixty miles north of downtown Los Angeles in a small charter city called Lancaster. Spending his childhood in high-desert shadows of Edwards Air Force Base, he didn’t have much to do. He attended Antelope Valley High School and passed out in 1970.

He attained an associate’s degree at a local junior college. His first part-time job was as a food-stocker at Fed-Mart Lancaster facility. Eventually, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in business administration from San Diego State University in 1975. He kept stepping up the career-ladder rungs at Fed-Mart. He reached the position of operations manager for Los Angeles division within a short span of time. Fed-Mart was owned by Sol Price, who is known to be the pioneer of warehouse store retail mode. In 1981, German investor named Hugo Mann bought Fed-Mart. He later closed the company due to heavy losses and laid-off workers. Craig began job hunting and went to work in store chain called Gemco, a subsidiary of Lucky Stores.

Craig Jelinek Career

He started his career in members-only Big-box company Costco in 1984. Costco was founded by Jim Sinegal in 1983, whom Craig have met at Fed-Mart. He had gained enough experience in the wholesale especially members-only services over the years. With his expertise, he helped the company open a sixth warehouse in Tukwila, Washington D.C. By the start of 1985, they had grown to a multi-state business with 9 locations and 200,000 members. Craig Jelinek has helped Costco expand in Southwest region. He launched stores and warehouses in different locations. Craig Jelinek played key role in opening of Reno and Las Vegas warehouses in Nevada and several locations in Northern and Southern California.

By January of 1989, Costco was operating 46 warehouses spread throughout the west coast, the east coast, and Canada. He introduced successful expansion strategies and rich employee-oriented culture in the company. In 2004, Jelinek was promoted to Executive Vice President and COO of Merchandising. He was overseeing E-commerce, Fresh Foods, Meat, Bakery, Deli, Foods, Pharmacy, Purchasing and many more categories as an EVP. In 2010, He was promoted to the newly found office of the President. On 1st January 2012, he became the CEO of Costco replacing founder Jim sinegal.

Craig Jelinek Net Worth

Craig Jelinek has a net worth of approximately $100 million estimated in the year 2022. His main sources of income are from his shares in Costco, and salaries from various management positions in warehouse operations. His base salary adds up to $8,279,552 per year as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director at Costco Wholesale Corporation. He owns 22,500 units of Costco Wholesale Corp Stocks worth millions, adding to his net worth generously.

Craig Jelinek Body Features