- The Walmart heirs are worth a combined $157 billion.
- They grant money and resources to support education, environmental efforts, and their home community through the Walton Family Foundation.
- In public, the Waltons live pretty modest lifestyles despite their wealth . Here's how they spend their fortune .
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What the lives of the Waltons — America's wealthiest family and heirs to the Walmart and Sam's Club empire — are really like
the walton family walmart
While some work in the family business whether that's serving on the company board or working to manage the family's wealth others chose to pursue areas of personal passion .
Sam Walton, the original man behind the company that now encompasses both Walmart and Sam's Club, set his family up for financial success when he divided the ownership before he died.
He wasn't a man of flashy luxury, but you can see how his children are living a slightly more lavish life now.
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Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Arkansas in 1962.
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Associated Press
He married Helen Robson on Valentines Day in 1942, and together they had four children: Rob, John, Jim, and Alice.
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April L. Brown/Associated Press
By the time Sam died in 1992, he had set up the company ownership in a way that minimized the estate taxes anyone on the receiving end of his will had to pay.
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Rick Wilking/Reuters
Source: Fortune
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He set up his ownership of Walmarts stock in a family partnership each of his children held 20% of Walton Enterprises, while he and Helen each held 10%. Helen inherited Sams 10% tax-free when he died.
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Courtesy of Walmart
Source: Fortune
Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton is the oldest Walton child.
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Reuters
He served as chairman of Walmart until 2015.
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Rick T. Wilking / Stringer / Getty Images
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Rob has a house in Paradise Valley, Arizona, near the base of Camelback Mountain.
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In the past, protesters have rallied outside of his Arizona home to advocate for better wages and benefits for Walmart workers.
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J Pat Carter/Associated Press
Rob also has a large collection of vintage cars.
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Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images
In 2013, he ran his Daytona Coupe, which was worth $15 million at the time, off the tracks and wrecked it. The car was one of only five ever made.
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AP Photo/Tom Mihalek
John was the second-oldest child. He died in a plane crash in 2005.
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April L. Brown/Associated Press
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He was married to Christy Walton and had one son, Lukas.
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Walton Family Foundation/YouTube
John left about 17% of his wealth to his wife, and he gave the rest to charity and to his son.
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AP
Source: Business Insider
John served in Vietnam as a Green Beret. When he returned from the war he held a series of jobs like the Walmart company pilot, a crop duster, and the owner a few yachting companies before becoming a Walmart board member.
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AP Photo/Spencer Tirey
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Source: Fortune
In 2013, Christy decided to sell their Jackson Hole mansion. She also listed the familys ranch, which includes its own elk herd, for $68.7 million its now listed for $39 million.
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Jackson Hole Real Estate
Source: Curbed and Ranch Marketing Associates
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The 8,606-square-foot home was put on the market for $12.5 million.
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Source: Curbed
James "Jim" Walton is the youngest son.
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Walmart
He is chairman of the board of the familys Arvest Bank, which has assets that total more than $18 billion and is estimated to be worth $45.3 billion.
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Source: Bloomberg
He also served on the Walmart board before being replaced by his son Steuart in 2016.
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Rick T. Wilking /Stringer/Getty
Now, he presides over Walton Enterprises the private company that deals with the investments and finances of the Walton family only from modest offices in Bentonville, Arkansas.
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Source: Fortune
The youngest sibling, Alice Walton, is worth $40.4 billion. She has been divorced twice and has no children.
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AP/April L. Brown
Alice has never taken an active role in running the family business.
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REUTERS/Rick Wilking
Instead, she became a patron of the arts, which she fell in love with at a young age.
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When she was 10, she bought her first work of art: a reproduction of Picassos "Blue Nude" for about $2, she told The New Yorker.
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Evan Vucci/Associated Press
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Source: The New Yorker
She has an immense private art collection, with original works from Andy Warhol and Georgia OKeeffe.
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AP Images/Kirsty Wigglesworth
Alice opened a museum called Crystal Bridges in 2011 to house her $500 million private art collection.
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Danny Johnston/Associated Press
The collection includes a Georgia OKeeffe painting she spent $44.4 million on in 2014 the biggest sale for a womans piece of art in history.
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Courtesy of Sotheby's
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Source: The Observer
When it opened, it had four times the endowment of the famous Whitney Museum in New York.
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Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
The museums grounds are filled with flora ...
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Danny Johnston/Associated Press
... and surrounded by streams that make it look like the buildings float on water.
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Jacob Slaton/Reuters
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Its so beautiful that people use it as a wedding and special events venue.
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Weddings at Crystal Bridges/YouTube
Source: Crystal Bridges
Alice is also a breeder of horses.
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Sam-Cat/Flickr
Her Millsap, Texas, property, Rocking W Ranch, sold to the Three Amigos Investment Group of Kermit in September 2017 for an undisclosed amount.
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Courtesy of WilliamsTrew
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Source: Star-Telegram
It had an initial asking price of $19.75 million, but was most recently listed for $16.5 million. The working ranch has over 250 acres of pasture and outbuildings for cattle and horses.
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Courtesy of WilliamsTrew
Source: WilliamsTrew
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Her other 4,416-acre Texas ranch was previously listed at a reduced price of $22 million.
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Courtesy of WilliamsTrew
Source: Fortune
The modest, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home overlooks the Brazos River.
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HuecoBear/Wikimedia Commons
Alice also owns a two-floor condo on New Yorks Park Ave., which she bought for $25 million in 2014.
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Source: Business Insider
It has more than 52 large windows overlooking Central Park ...
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evenfh/Shutterstock
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... plus a media room featuring bookshelves and a television ...
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Bespoke Real Estate/YouTube
Source: Business Insider
... a bedroom and a stairwell with a view ...
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Bespoke Real Estate/YouTube
Source: Business Insider
... and more than 6,000 total square feet of space.
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Source: Business Insider
In January 2016, Alice donated 3.7 million of her Walmart shares worth about $225 million at the time to the familys nonprofit, the Walton Family Foundation.
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Facebook/Walton Family Foundation
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Sam and Helen started the foundation as a way to teach their children how to give back and how to work together.
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Walton Family Foundation/YouTube
The charity awarded $535.5 million in grants, each helping a cause that aligns with their values.
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Walton Family Foundation/YouTube
The foundation has three main areas of focus:
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Walton Family Foundation/YouTube
The foundations focus on education was led by John. His brother, Jim, said John was really interested in being able to give parents choices when it came to their childs schooling.
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Walton Family Foundation/YouTube
Source: Walton Family Foundation
Rob spearheaded the foundations venture into environmental outreach. One of the first grants they gave was one that helped develop a sustainable fisheries label.
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Walton Family Foundation/YouTube
Source: Walton Family Foundation
A commitment to the familys home in Arkansas is another large part of the foundation. Whether its creating a system of mountain-bike trails through the Ozarks or developing the grounds around Crystal Bridges, the Waltons are celebrating the community that helped their family get to where they are.
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Walton Family Foundation/YouTube
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Source: Walton Family Foundation
Walmart Inc., which owns Walmart and Sams Club, is the largest retailer in the US in terms of revenue, with sales of $500.34 billion per year.
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Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
Source: MarketWatch
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When Walmart has a good quarter, the Waltons make hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends.
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AP/April L. Brown
Source: Forbes and The Guardian
The company reported in November that same-store sales were up 3.4% in the third quarter.
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AP/Gunnar Rathbun
Source: Walmart
Even though the Walton family is raking in billions as a result of the companys success, they remain relatively under-the-radar in terms of flashing their wealth much like their patriarch, Sam, did in the early years.
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Tripadvisor/Waltons
Source: Fortune
See Also:
- Walmart has gobbled up a slew of brands since 2010 and it's all part of a strategy to take on Amazon and win over millennials
- We compared the grocery-shopping experience at 6 major chains in 2018, and this one impressed us the most
- These will be the biggest trends in grocery shopping for 2019, according to one of the top delivery companies
SEE ALSO: Walmart is eliminating the most dreaded part of holiday shopping
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