| Walton | |
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| Business | |
 Sam Walton, founder of Walmart | |
| Etymology | Walton (surname); for "a place with the suffix tun ('town, farm, hamlet') and one of the prefixes wald ('a wood'), walesc ('foreigner') or walh ('farm worker')" |
| Founder | Sam Walton (1918–1992) |
| Titles | Founder of Walmart, richest family in the United States |
| Estate(s) | $US 353 billion (2024) |
The Walton family is an American family whose collective fortune derived from Walmart makes them the richest family in the United States. [1] [2] [3]
The three most prominent living members (Jim, Rob, and Alice Walton) have consistently been in the top twenty of the Forbes 400 list since 2001, as were John (d. 2005) and Helen (d. 2007) prior to their deaths. Christy Walton took her husband John's place in the ranking after his death. The majority of the family's wealth derives from the heritage of Bud and Sam Walton, who were the co-founders of Walmart. Walmart is the world's largest retailer, one of the world's largest business enterprises in terms of annual revenue, and, with just over 2.2 million employees, the world's largest private employer.
As of December 2014 [update] , the Waltons collectively owned 50.8 percent of Walmart. [4] In 2018, the family sold some of their company's stock and now owns just under 50%. [5] In August 2024, the Walton family's net worth was around US$ 324.2 billion.
In 1987, Sam Walton endowed a charitable foundation. The Walton Family Foundation primarily focused on charter schools, but it later extended its program to include environmental issues, particularly water-related. [6]
In 2016, Alice and Jim Walton put a $250 million grant towards building charter school facilities. The Walton Family Foundation created the Building Equity Initiative to provide charter schools with access to capital to create and expand their facilities. [7] This initiative was established after the foundation announced in 2016 that it would spend $1 billion over the next five years to expand "educational opportunity" by partnering with charter school operators, researchers, and education reformers. [8]
The Walton family fortune is broken down as such:
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Their immediate family includes Jim, Christy, and Lukas Walton.
Samuel Moore Walton was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in Rogers, Arkansas and Midwest City, Oklahoma in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's largest corporation by revenue as well as the biggest private employer in the world. For a period of time, Walton was the richest person in the United States. His family has remained the richest family in the U.S. for several consecutive years, with a net worth of around US$240.6 billion as of January 2022. In 1992 at the age of 74, Walton died of blood cancer and was laid to rest at the Bentonville Cemetery in his longtime home of Bentonville, Arkansas.
Warren Edward Buffett is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is one of the best-known investors in the world. As of June 2024, he had a net worth of $135 billion, making him the tenth-richest person in the world.
Helen Robson Walton (December 3, 1919 – April 19, 2007) was an American philanthropist and prominent arts advocate, dedicated to being a grandmother and to her community in Bentonville, Arkansas where she instituted a committee for a national museum of arts. After 31 years of activity, the Arkansas Committee on the National Museum for Women in the Arts is the longest standing committee in the state. She was also the wife of Walmart and Sam's Club founder Sam Walton. At one point in her life, she was the richest American and the eleventh-richest woman in the world.
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is a French businessman, investor and art collector. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company. Arnault is one of the richest individuals in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$180 billion as of August 2024, according to Forbes.
Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton is an American billionaire heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. He is the eldest son of Helen Walton and Sam Walton, and was chairman of Walmart from 1992 to 2015. As of November 2023, Walton had an estimated net worth of US$72 billion, making him the 16th richest person in the world. He is also the principal owner of the Denver Broncos.
Alice Louise Walton is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart as daughter of founder Sam Walton. In September 2016, she owned over $11 billion in Walmart shares. As of November 2023, Walton has a net worth of $71 billion, making her the 17th richest person and the second-richest woman in the world according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.
James Carr Walton is an American businessman, currently an heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. As of August 2024, Walton was the 15th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$92.5 billion according to Forbes. He is the youngest son of Sam Walton.
John Thomas Walton was an American war veteran and a son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He was also the chairman of True North Venture Partners, a venture capital firm. Walton cofounded the Children's Scholarship Fund, providing tuition scholarships for disadvantaged youth.
Nancy Walton Laurie is an American billionaire, as an heir to the Walmart fortune.
Ann Walton Kroenke is an American billionaire. Heiress to the Walmart fortune, Ann and her sister, Nancy Walton Laurie, inherited stock from their father, Bud Walton, who was the brother and an early business partner of Walmart founder Sam Walton. She is the owner of the Denver Nuggets of the NBA and Colorado Avalanche of the NHL.
Christy Ruth Walton is the widow of John T. Walton, one of the sons of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.
David Reuben and Simon Reuben are British businessmen. In 2024, they were named the third-richest family in the UK by the Sunday Times Rich List, with a net worth of £24.9 billion.
Enos Stanley Kroenke is an American billionaire businessman. He is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, Denver Nuggets of the NBA, Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, the Los Angeles Gladiators of the Overwatch League, and the Los Angeles Guerrillas of the Call of Duty League.
Gautam Shantilal Adani is an Indian businessman who is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in port development and operations in India.
The World's Billionaires is an annual ranking of people who are billionaires, i.e., they are considered to have a net worth of US$1 billion or more, by the American business magazine Forbes. The list was first published in March 1987. The total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and is cited in United States dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt and other factors. Royalty and dictators whose wealth comes from their positions are excluded from these lists. This ranking is an index of the wealthiest documented individuals, excluding any ranking of those with wealth that is not able to be completely ascertained.
Josh Kroenke is an American heir to the Walmart family inheritance and to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, his father's sports-media conglomerate. He is involved in running the Denver Nuggets basketball franchise, the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey franchise, the Colorado Rapids, and English football club Arsenal. The company co-owns Elitch Gardens Theme Park as well.
Carrie Walton Penner is the granddaughter of Sam Walton the founder of Walmart, and the daughter of former company chairman S. Robson Walton.
Lukas Tyler Walton is an American billionaire heir. He is the grandson of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.
Walton Family Foundation is an American private foundation and the main philanthropic organization of the Walton family. It was created in 1987 by Walmart founder Sam Walton and his wife Helen Walton. As of 2023, the foundation's giving focuses on environmental and educational causes, as well as supporting communities in Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. The board of directors includes four members of the Walton family, and Stephanie Cornell serves as the foundation's executive director.
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