W.W. Grainger, Inc. ·GWW

No COO — business unit president reports directly to CEO

Wholesalers · Fortune #243 · Hybrid structure · 25K employees · Lake Forest, Illinois

View as of:
4
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 6)
3
Avg span
moderate
3
Max depth
3 levels
5.6 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
75%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$17.9B
Operating income
$2.5B
Net income
$1.7B
Total assets
$9.0B
Shares out
47M

Sourced from W.W. Grainger, Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-03-10 ↗ View on SEC

Interactive org chart

W.W. Grainger, Inc. organizational chart

Explore the executive structure, reporting layers, and scenario-ready operating model from public filings.

Open editable chart

No COO sits between the CEO and operations at Grainger; instead, the President of the Grainger Business Unit reports directly to the CEO. This page details the enterprise hybrid structure, executive team, reporting lines, recent leadership changes, and peer comparisons.

What to model

Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines

Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.

Latest signal Melanie J. Tinto joined as Chief Human Resources Officer

Joined as SVP & CHRO in May 2025

Source · See change log

Scenario views in the chart

  • Add Chief Operating Officer Introduce a COO layer to oversee operations and supply chain, potentially reducing CEO span.
  • Centralize Supply Chain under CFO Shift supply chain oversight from the business unit to enterprise finance for tighter cost control.

Atlas work this supports

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The people

Who's running this

5 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.

internal

D.G. Macpherson

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Executive

9 yr

13 reports

internal

Paige K. Robbins

Senior Vice President & President, Grainger Business Unit

Business Units

6 yr

3 reports

internal

Deidra C. Merriwether

Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Finance

7 yr

3 reports

Melanie J. Tinto

Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer

Human Resources

1 yr

2 reports

internal

Nancy L. Berardinelli-Krantz

Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer

Legal

5 yr

1 reports

The pay

Executive compensation

From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.

D.G. Macpherson $11.6M
Base salary
$1.18M
Stock awards
$8.45M
Non-equity incentive
$1.65M
Other
$328K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗

The businesses

How W.W. Grainger, Inc. divides the work

4 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.

Finance

800 employees

SVP & CFO (Deidra C. Merriwether)

Oversees financial planning, reporting, treasury, and capital allocation.

Grainger Business Unit

20K employees

SVP & President (Paige K. Robbins)

Core North American MRO distribution operations and sales execution.

Legal & Compliance

150 employees

SVP & Chief Legal Officer (Nancy L. Berardinelli-Krantz)

Manages governance, compliance, litigation, and regulatory matters.

Human Resources

400 employees

SVP & CHRO (Melanie J. Tinto)

Leads talent, compensation, culture, and workforce strategy.

The thesis

Why this org is unusual

Grainger’s most distinctive structural feature is the absence of a Chief Operating Officer, with the President of the Grainger Business Unit reporting directly to the CEO.

This concentrates operational and commercial accountability in a single business-unit leader rather than a traditional COO layer. The structure blends enterprise functional control (Finance, Legal, HR) with a dominant operating unit, reflecting Grainger’s dual high-touch and endless-assortment models.
  • No COO role
  • Single dominant business unit under CEO

The comparison

How W.W. Grainger, Inc. stacks up

Compared with peers like Fastenal and MSC Industrial, Grainger maintains a leaner C-suite with fewer operational intermediaries. Many distribution peers employ a COO to manage branch and supply-chain execution; Grainger instead relies on a powerful business-unit president. This reflects confidence in mature operating …

C-suite size

W.W. Grainger, Inc.
5
Fastenal
6
MSC Industrial
7
Applied Industrial
6
HD Supply
6

Reporting depth

W.W. Grainger, Inc.
3 levels
Fastenal
4 levels
MSC Industrial
5 levels
Applied Industrial
5 levels
HD Supply
4 levels

Avg C-suite tenure

W.W. Grainger, Inc.
6 yr
Fastenal
8 yr
MSC Industrial
6 yr
Applied Industrial
7 yr
HD Supply
5 yr

Has COO / Has CAIO

W.W. Grainger, Inc. — no COO — no CAIO
Fastenal — no COO — no CAIO
MSC Industrial ✓ COO — no CAIO
Applied Industrial ✓ COO — no CAIO
HD Supply ✓ COO — no CAIO

Current signals

What changed recently

The most notable change was the 2025 appointment of Melanie Tinto as CHRO, alongside the departure of the prior CTO role from the NEO group.

  • Date not confirmed new
    Melanie J. Tinto Chief Human Resources Officer

    Joined as SVP & CHRO in May 2025

    Source
  • Date not confirmed departed
    Jonny LeRoy Chief Technology Officer

    No longer listed as NEO after FY2024

    Source

Leadership Timeline

Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.

FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-03-10
CEO
D.G. Macpherson
CEO span
4
C-suite
5
Avg tenure
5.6 yr

CTO role no longer listed among NEOs.

Named executive officers (5)
  • D.G. Macpherson - CEO since 2016
  • Deidra C. Merriwether - CFO since 2018
  • Paige K. Robbins - President, GBU since 2019
  • Nancy L. Berardinelli-Krantz - Chief Legal Officer since 2020
  • Melanie J. Tinto - CHRO since 2025
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-03-07
CEO
D.G. Macpherson
CEO span
5
C-suite
6
Avg tenure
6.2 yr

CTO included as named executive officer.

Named executive officers (5)
  • D.G. Macpherson - CEO since 2016
  • Deidra C. Merriwether - CFO since 2018
  • Paige K. Robbins - President, GBU since 2019
  • Nancy L. Berardinelli-Krantz - Chief Legal Officer since 2020
  • Jonny LeRoy - CTO since 2022
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-03-08
CEO
D.G. Macpherson
CEO span
5
C-suite
6
Avg tenure
6.5 yr

Stable executive structure with long-tenured internal leaders.

Named executive officers (4)
  • D.G. Macpherson - CEO since 2016
  • Deidra C. Merriwether - CFO since 2018
  • Paige K. Robbins - President, GBU since 2019
  • Nancy L. Berardinelli-Krantz - Chief Legal Officer since 2020

Year-over-year changes

FY2024 → FY2025

The 2025 transition removed the CTO role from the C-suite and added a new externally hired CHRO.

  • CEO span: 5 → 4
  • C-suite size: 6 → 5
  • Avg tenure: 6.2 → 5.6 yr
  • new Melanie J. Tinto - CHRO (DEF 14A 2026-03-10)
  • departed Jonny LeRoy - CTO (was CTO) (DEF 14A 2026-03-10)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the CEO of W.W. Grainger?

D.G. Macpherson has served as Chairman and CEO since October 2016.

What type of organizational structure does W.W. Grainger use?

Grainger uses a hybrid enterprise structure combining functional leadership with a dominant operating business unit.

How many direct reports does W.W. Grainger's CEO have?

The CEO has four primary direct reports in the current structure.

How has W.W. Grainger's leadership changed recently?

In 2025, Grainger hired a new CHRO and no longer lists a CTO among its named executive officers.

Does W.W. Grainger have a COO?

No. Grainger does not have a COO; instead, the business unit president reports directly to the CEO.

Sources

  • DEF 14A filed Mar 2026
  • SEC EDGAR: W.W. Grainger, Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
  • SEC EDGAR: W.W. Grainger, Inc. 10-K Annual Report

Reference

Cite this page

If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.

APA 7th
Creately. (2026). W.W. Grainger, Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/ww-grainger/
MLA 9th
"W.W. Grainger, Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/ww-grainger/. Accessed .
Chicago 17
Creately. "W.W. Grainger, Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/ww-grainger/.
Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
W.W. Grainger, Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-03-10. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/277135/000110465926025575/tm261342-1_def14a.htm

Permanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/ww-grainger/ · last updated 2026-04-01

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