Waltons stay world’s richest family: Who they are and how they built a $513 billion fortune

File photo of Rob Walton

The Walton family, founders of retail giant Walmart, have once again been named the world’s richest family, with a combined net worth of $513.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. Their fortune puts them far ahead of any other family in global wealth rankings and underlines the extraordinary scale of the business Sam Walton built more than six decades ago.

Walmart, founded in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, has grown into the world’s largest retailer by revenue, clocking $681 billion in annual sales. With more than 10,750 stores worldwide and a rapidly expanding online presence, the company serves around 270 million customers every week. The wealth of the Walton family remains closely tied to this vast retail empire.

Sam Walton’s rise began with a simple idea: sell everyday goods at low prices, even in small towns others ignored. That focus on rural markets, tight cost control, and high sales volumes helped Walmart grow steadily across the United States and then internationally, as noted by Quartr.

Sam Walton and his wife Helen Robson had four children: Rob, John, Jim and Alice. To maintain family control, they set up Walton Enterprises, the family office that holds most of their Walmart shares. Each of the four children owned 20 percent of Walton Enterprises, while Sam and Helen held 10 percent each. After Sam’s death in 1992, his stake passed to Helen tax-free.

Today, the family continues to own about 45 percent of Walmart through the Walton Penner family ownership group. Walton Enterprises also manages the family trust that holds the remaining shares, making it the central pillar of both their wealth and their philanthropic activities.

While most family members do not hold executive roles at Walmart, they remain closely involved at the board level. Greg Penner, married to Sam Walton’s granddaughter Carrie Walton Penner, serves as chairman of Walmart’s board. Another grandson, Steuart Walton, joined the board in 2016.

Even as they retain control, the family has steadily trimmed its holdings. Since 2020, the Waltons and their trusts have sold $25.3 billion worth of Walmart stock, according to Smart Insider. The proceeds have helped fund investments and charitable work through Walton Enterprises and the Walton Family Foundation.

The foundation focuses on improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans, and supporting communities in northwest Arkansas, where the family has deep roots.

Samuel Robson Walton, known as Rob, is the eldest of Sam Walton’s children. He served as Walmart’s board chairman from 1992 to 2015, a period that saw the company expand aggressively overseas. Rob later made headlines in 2022 by buying the NFL’s Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion. Bloomberg estimates his net worth at $137 billion.

John Walton, the second child, died in a plane crash in 2005. His widow, Christy Walton, has a net worth of $22.4 billion and is known for major donations in education and healthcare. Their son Lukas Walton is worth about $48 billion and has focused heavily on impact investing. He has earned $15 billion over the past decade through projects ranging from sustainable fuels to ocean conservation bonds, CNBC reported, citing his family office Builders Vision.

Jim Walton, the youngest son, spent years leading the family’s Arvest Bank Group and also served on Walmart’s board. His son Steuart later took his place on the board. Alice Walton, Sam’s only daughter, followed a different path. A major art patron, she opened the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville in 2011 and owns a vast private collection that includes works by Andy Warhol and Georgia O’Keeffe.

As the Walton heirs grow older, control is slowly passing to the next generation. Grandchildren were given voting rights over the family’s Walmart holdings last year, and several now sit on the family foundation’s board.

“The next generation, when they have great amounts of wealth, are less concerned with how to make more wealth, and more concerned with the issue of, what do we do with it,” Dennis Jaffe of BanyanGlobal Family Business Advisors told CNBC.

For now, the Waltons remain firmly at the top of the global wealth ladder, their fortune a reminder of how one retailer reshaped shopping and built one of the largest family fortunes in history.