Company: GWW
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-015730
Chunk: 9

Company: W.W. GRAINGER, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 9
---
 represent a material interest to the Directors. In addition, as part of its overall 2024 charitable contributions program, Grainger made donations to tax-exempt organizations with which one or more Directors serve as officers, Directors or trustees. In no instance did the total amount of the contributions to any charitable organization exceed $[•] from January 1, 2024 through the date hereof. Grainger annually matches each Director’s charitable contributions on a three-to-one basis up to a maximum Company contribution of $7,500 and provides discounts on product purchases, both on the same basis as provided to U.S. Grainger employees.

| ​ | CORPORATEGOVERNANCE | ​ | ​ | PROPOSAL 1:ELECTION OFDIRECTORS | ​ | ​ | PROPOSAL 2:RATIFY THEINDEPENDENTAUDITOR | ​ | ​ | EXECUTIVECOMPENSATION | ​ | ​ | PROPOSAL 3:SAY ON PAY | ​ | ​ | PROPOSAL 4: APPROVALAND ADOPTION | ​ | ​ | QUESTIONS ANDANSWERS | ​ | ​ | APPENDICES | ​ |

TABLE OF CONTENTS

| ​ | invest.grainger.com | ​ | ​ | 5 | ​ | ​ | ● | ​ |

Board Qualifications, Attributes, Skills and Background We determined that the Board’s various experiences and viewpoints benefit us most when they are aligned with our global business needs, our strong corporate governance practices, and our strategic initiatives. As a result of the Board’s ongoing refreshment efforts, in recent years, we added Directors with expertise in technology, digital commerce, finance and corporate transactions, workforce diversification, and global logistics management. The six Directors added to the Board since 2020—George S. Davis, Katherine D. Jaspon, Christopher J. Klein, Cindy J. Miller, Susan Slavik Williams, and Steven A. White—bring valuable perspectives and experiences to enhance composition of the Board. The Directors’ varied perspectives support our business as a broad line, business-to-business distributor of MRO products and services with 2024 sales of approximately $17.2 billion. The Company operates through its more than 26,000 team members in its distribution centers, customer service centers, branches and its eCommerce, sales and services areas across North America, Asia and Europe. More than 5,000 primary suppliers worldwide provide the Company with approximately 2 million MRO products and services in our High-Touch Solutions businesses and more than