Ron Vachris became Costco's chief executive, its top leader, in 2024 after a career of about four decades. He reached the position without completing a college degree. Today, he leads one of the world's largest companies, with pay and benefits worth nearly $14 million.
After leaving high school in the early 1980s, Vachris studied business at Glendale Community College in Arizona. At the same time, he worked part-time for Price Club, driving a forklift, a vehicle used to lift heavy goods. He moved into an assistant warehouse manager role and did not finish his degree. Price Club merged with Costco in 1993. Vachris became a regional vice president in 1999 and took charge of company operations in 2016.
His father, who worked on electricity lines, encouraged him to find a company whose values matched his own rather than chase impressive job titles. Speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago in May 2026, Vachris explained that he had not imagined how far the business or his own career would develop.
