Portrait of a smiling man with brown hair, wearing a navy blue button-up shirt, against a light orange background.

Meet Andy Ruben

Andy Ruben is a Founder, CEO, Board Chair & Advisor, and C-Suite Executive with 30+ years of experience in retail and consumer brands.

Andy Ruben builds businesses that didn't exist before. Andy was recruited to Walmart (NYSE: WMT) to lead corporate strategy. Later, serving as the company's first Chief Sustainability Officer, Andy embedded environmental priorities in everyday operations and the P&L while pushing the topic from the shop floor to Fortune 500 boardrooms. He then re-imagined a $20 billion private-brand portfolio, driving double-digit growth and unlocking $1 billion in annual savings, before taking on global e-commerce strategy, where he launched Walmart's first grocery-delivery service and oversaw the retailer's early omnichannel model.

Seeing the next inflection point, Andy founded Trove in 2012 and, five years later, pioneered branded resale with Patagonia's Worn Wear program. Since then he has partnered with more than fifty brands—including Levi's, REI, lululemon, Canada Goose, Gucci, Carhartt and On—to build their own resale channels, turning the concept into retail's fastest-growing segment. Trove has appeared on Inc.'s Fastest-Growing Companies list and on both Fast Company's and Fortune's Most Innovative Companies lists.

Today, Andy is CEO of Clarity, an AI company using advanced imaging and machine learning to solve retail's returns fraud problem. He serves as Board Chair of Zevia (NYSE: ZVIA), and as a Director of FortNine, a PE-backed powersports e-commerce company, and Goodwill Industries International. He is a Senior Advisor to Boston Consulting Group and an advisor to Earthshot Ventures, the early-stage climate fund of Emerson Collective.

A TED speaker, Andy has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. He has testified before both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on business and sustainability, and he is a frequent speaker on AI-driven commerce, the future of retail, and growth strategy. His honors include Walmart's Sam M. Walton Entrepreneur of the Year award, Chain Store Age's Retail Rising Star, and inclusion in Arkansas Business's 40 Under 40.

Awards & Recognition

  • Inc Magazine’s Fastest Growing Private Companies (Trove)

  • Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies (Trove)

  • Fortune's Most Innovative Companies (Trove)

  • World Economic Forum Circular Finalist, Davos

  • Arkansas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40

  • Chain Store Age’s Retail Rising Star

  • Sam M. Walton Entrepreneur of the Year, 2008

Notable Press