The eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton is the first member of America’s richest family to boast a 12-figure fortune.
With Walmart stock at an all-time high, Rob Walton—the eldest son of the retail giant’s founder Sam Walton (d. 1992)—is worth an estimated $100 billion, making him the first member of America’s richest family to boast a 12-figure fortune.
Walmart shares are up 54% year to date, with shoppers flocking to the retailer’s “Every Day Low Prices” to escape high inflation. As a result, Rob Walton, 79, now ranks as the 16th richest person in the world, just ahead of his brother Jim Walton, 76, and sister Alice Walton, 74, who are worth $98.8 billion and $91.3 billion, respectively as of 9:30 am Eastern time Wednesday. On September 5, Alice Walton reclaimed the title of world’s wealthiest woman for the first time since May 2022, overtaking L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who briefly became the first female centibillionaire in June and is now worth $87.4 billion.
Rob Walton joins 15 others in the $100 billion club, including the world’s richest person Elon Musk (estimated net worth: $265.5 billion), French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault ($175.5 billion) and Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang ($106.7 billion). In 2021, only four people held fortunes that spanned a dozen digits and a year before that there was just one, Jeff Bezos.
Walton was two months shy of turning 18 years old in 1962, when his father opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas. After graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1966, Walton went to law school at Columbia University, before joining the Tulsa-based law firm that helped take Walmart public in 1970. He joined the family retailer in 1978 and was appointed vice chairman four years later. When his father died in 1992, he took over as chairman.
Walton retired from Walmart’s board in June after more than four decades as a director, including more than 20 years as chairman–a role that has been held by his son-in-law Greg Penner since 2015. Penner also replaced Walton as controlling owner of the NFL’s Denver Broncos last October, after a group led by Walton bought the team for a record $4.7 billion in 2022.
Despite selling more than $28 billion of Walmart stock—and giving away more than $11 billion of the retailer’s shares—over the past decade, Sam Walton’s heirs still own 45% of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based behemoth, due to significant stock buybacks that have kept the family’s stake from being diluted. Forbes estimates that three-quarters of the clan’s shares are split almost evenly between the families of Rob, Jim and Alice Walton, and that most of the rest belongs to the heirs of their brother John Walton (d. 2005): his widow Christy Walton, 75, and son Lukas Walton, 37, who are worth $17 billion and $35.1 billion, respectively.
While Alice Walton has dedicated her life to curating art and other forms of philanthropy, Jim Walton was replaced by his son Steuart Walton on Walmart’s board in 2016 but still chairs the family’s $26 billion (assets) Arvest Bank Group. With Walmart stock on the rise, both Jim and Alice may soon join their brother–who Forbes estimates has given away slightly less of his Walmart shares, cash and other stock–to nonprofits, in the $100 billion club too.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
