Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: RICK DREILING

It’s been a wild ride at the discount retailer this past year, with a shakeup in Dollar Tree’s C-suite toppling much of its top brass.

Mike Witynski, who had held leadership roles at Dollar Tree since 2010 and was CEO of the Fortune 500 discount retailer since 2020, left in January. He played a key role in the company’s acquisition of the Family Dollar chain and Dollar Tree’s controversial price hike from $1 to $1.25 for most items in 2022.

Dreiling, the board’s executive chairman, stepped in as CEO after Witynski left. And he’s certainly qualified, having served as CEO for Dollar General, the main competitor to Dollar Tree, from 2008 to 2015. Dreiling became executive chairman of Dollar Tree in March 2022, following a proxy battle with an activist investor group. That summer, the company began a monthslong leadership overhaul.

Dreiling serves as lead independent director on Lowe’s board and has also served as president and CEO of pharmacy and convenience store chain Duane Reade.

For fiscal 2022, Dollar Tree reported $28.32 billion in net sales. Dollar Tree operates more than 16,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores and employs more than 200,000 people. It ranked No. 144 on this year’s Fortune 500 list.