Consumer & Retail

Lead For Success: A Costco Board Member's Secrets

Mar. 24, 2025

Guests: Maggie Wilderotter, Member of the Board of Directors for Costco and DocuSign

Host: Oliver Chen, Retail & Luxury Analyst, TD Cowen

In this episode, we host Maggie Wilderotter, current member of the Board of Directors for Costco and DocuSign, among several other businesses. She is also a distinguished Fortune 500 C-suite executive with experiences across retail, health care, and technology, media and telecommunications. Key discussion topics include drivers of Costco's remarkable success as well as boardroom challenges and advice.

Chapters:
2:00	Secrets to Maggie's Success: Leadership Defined
3:30	Boardroom Horizons: Short Term vs. Long Term Strategy
4:30	Advice for Retail from the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Sector
6:00	Frameworks for Artificial Intelligence in Retail
6:30	Drivers of Consistency and Success at Costco
7:50	How is Costco's Membership Optimized for Renewal?
9:20	The Costco Approach to Technology
10:40	The High-Quality Simplicity of Costco's Kirkland Private Label
11:30	Costco as and International Export
13:30	Common Challenges Faced by Retail Boardrooms Today
15:00	Key Inputs to Boardroom Composition
19:50	Foundational Experiences and Career Advice from Maggie

This podcast was recorded on February 6, 2025.

Full transcription

Full transcript to come.

Disclaimer

This podcast should not be copied, distributed, published or reproduced, in whole or in part. The information contained in this recording was obtained from publicly available sources, has not been independently verified by TD Securities, may not be current, and TD Securities has no obligation to provide any updates or changes. All price references and market forecasts are as of the date of recording. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of TD Securities and may differ from the views and opinions of other departments or divisions of TD Securities and its affiliates. TD Securities is not providing any financial, economic, legal, accounting, or tax advice or recommendations in this podcast. The information contained in this podcast does not constitute investment advice or an offer to buy or sell securities or any other product and should not be relied upon to evaluate any potential transaction. Neither TD Securities nor any of its affiliates makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in this podcast and any liability therefore (including in respect of direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage) is expressly disclaimed.

Oliver Chen, CFA

Retail & Luxury Analyst, TD Cowen

Oliver Chen, CFA
Retail & Luxury Analyst, TD Cowen

Biography

Oliver Chen is a Managing Director and senior equity research analyst covering retail and luxury goods. Mr. Chen’s deep understanding of the consumer and his ability to forecast the latest trends and technological changes that will impact the retail space has set him apart from peers. Oliver’s broad coverage and circumspect view makes him the thought partner of retail and brand leaders. His coverage of the retail sector has led to numerous industry awards and press coverage from CNBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, Financial Times, Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal and others. Mr. Chen was recognized on the 2018 and 2017 Institutional Investor All-America Research team as a top analyst in the retailing/department stores & specialty softlines sector. Mr. Chen was also selected as a preeminent retail influencer as he was named to the National Retail Federation (NRF) Foundation’s “2019 List of People Shaping Retail’s Future.” Considered an “industry expert,” Mr. Chen frequently appears as a speaker/panelist at key industry events. Mr. Chen is also an Adjunct Professor in Retail and Marketing at Columbia Business School, teaching the course “New Frontiers in Retailing” and was awarded recognition as an “Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business” by the Asian American Business Development Center in 2023 given his role in driving the U.S. economy.

Prior to joining TD Cowen in 2014, he spent seven years at Citigroup covering a broad spectrum of the U.S. consumer retail landscape, including specialty stores, apparel, footwear & textiles, luxury retail, department stores and broadlines. Before Citigroup, he worked in the investment research division at UBS, in the global mergers and acquisitions/strategic planning group at PepsiCo International, and in JPMorgan’s consumer products/retail mergers and acquisitions group.

Mr. Chen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Georgetown University, a master’s of business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a CFA charterholder. At the Wharton School, Mr. Chen was a recipient of the Jay H. Baker Retail Award for impact in retailing and was a co-founding president of the Wharton Retail Club. He also serves as a member of the PhD Retail Research Review Committee for the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School. Mr. Chen was recognized in the Wharton School’s “40 Under 40” brightest stars alumni list in 2017.

Mr. Chen’s passion for the sector began at the age of 12 when he began working with his parents at their retail business in Natchitoches, Louisiana.