As one of the most talked-about figures, Craig Jelinek has built a significant fortune. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.
What is Craig Jelinek's net worth and salary?
Costco was the second largest retailer in the world in 2015 and by 2016 it was the world's largest retailer of organic foods, choice and prime beef, wine, and rotisserie chicken.
Craig Jelinek is an American businessman who has a net worth of $300 million. Craig Jelinek earned his fortune thanks to a long career at discount club Costco. Craig is the current CEO of Costco, a role he ascended to in 2012 upon the retirement of company co-founderJim Sinegal. As of this writing, Craig is Costco's largest declared individual stock holder. He owns 400,000 shares of Costco today, which is roughly 0.09% of the company's total shares outstanding. More info on his stock holdings in the next paragraph.
As of this writing, Craig owns 400,000 shares of Costco. In recent years the stake's value has fluctuated between $100 and $300 million. In April 2022 when Costco stock hit $600 per share, that stake was worth $200 million. By mid-2024, with Costco's share price nearing $850, his stake was worth $340 million.
Craig Jelinek's base salary is $800,000. He also earns additional money in the form of bonuses and stock grants. For example, in 2018 he earned $800,000 in base salary, $97,000 in bonus, $6.3 million in stock grants and $200,000 in retirement contributions. His predecessor, Jim Sinegal typically earned $350,000 in base salary but $3-4 million in total compensation when bonuses and stock awards were included.
One of Craig's first job's out of school was at FedMart, a chain of discount department stores. Coincidentally, Jim Sinegal was also an alum of FedMart, having worked there as a bagger during college. FedMart was founded by an entrepreneur named Sol Price. In 1975, the year Craig graduated from SDSU, Sol Price was forced out of FedMart by the company's Board of Directors. A year later he founded Price Club, which is generally considered to be the world's first major bulk discount warehouse club concept.
While this was going on, Craig Jelinek was working for grocery chain Lucky Stores.
Walter Craig Jelinek was born in California in August 1952. He graduated from Antelope Valley High School in 1970 then enrolled at San Diego State University where he graduated in 1975. His future Costco mentor Jim Sinegal also attended SDSU, having graduated in 1959.
Ultimately, Craig Jelinek's financial journey is a testament to their success.
Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.
