The only thing I really think about is: How are we making decisions and getting things done such that Walmart is succeeding and creating value 50 years from now?

Customers want to save money and time and have the broadest assortment of items, and we think that by bringing e-commerce and digital capabilities together with the stores, we can do things that a pure e-commerce player can't.

The stores are an asset, and they have a great assortment in them and they're close to people. Being within 10 miles of 90% of America is a huge advantage, especially with fresh food at a good price. But we must also, if you think long-term and you think about what the company wants to accomplish, you must have a big and important first-party e-commerce business, and you must have a marketplace, and the things that go along with the marketplace.

There is no man more pusillanimous than I when I am planning a campaign. I purposely exaggerate all the dangers and all the calamities that the circumstances make possible. I am in a thoroughly painful state of agitation. This does not keep me from looking quite serene in front of my entourage; I am like an unmarried girl laboring with child. Once I have made up my mind, everything is forgotten except what leads to success.

The marketplace is so important because we got to be in the consideration set. When somebody takes their phone out, and it's so easy to choose where you're going to go shop, if you don't have a really broad assortment, you're not even in the consideration set, and so that's one of the reasons why I was so convicted that we needed a marketplace all along, and others were too.

Preparing for battle, plans were essential. But once the battle was joined, plans were useless.