Walmart founder Sam · Walton's eldest son, Rob · Walton became the first member of United States's richest family to have a fortune of 100 billion dollars.
Original title: "Rob · Walton enters the billionaire club for the first time"
As Walmart's stock price hit an all-time high, ·Rob Walton, the eldest son of the retail giant's found·er, Sam Walton (Sam Walton, who died in 1992), was valued at $100 billion at one point, becoming the first member of United States's richest family to have a fortune of $100 billion.
In response to high inflation, consumers flocked to Walmart in search of "daily low prices", which has led to Walmart shares up 54% so far this year. As a result, Rob ·Walton, 79, was the 16th richest person in the world as of Wednesday· ahead of his 76-year-old brother Jim Walton and his 74-year-old sister Alice · Walton. As of 9:30 a.m. ET last Wednesday, Jim · Walton was worth $98.8 billion and Alice · Walton was worth $91.3 billion.
On September 5, Alice · Walton regained the title of "the richest woman in the world" for the first time since May 2022, surpassing L'Oreal heirs Françoise · ·Bettencourt Meyers, who briefly became the world's first female "billionaire" in June. (As of press time, Meyers has regained the title of "the richest woman in the world.") ）
In addition to Rob · Walton, there are 15 other members of the "100 billion dollar club", including France luxury giants ·Bernard Arnault (real-time net worth of $233 billion), Elon Musk ($195 billion) ·· Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($194 billion). In 2021, there were only 4 "100 billion billionaires" in the world, and before that, in 2020, there was only one Bezos.
When his father opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962, Rob · Walton was two months shy of turning 18. After graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1966, Rob attended Colombia University School of Law and later joined a Tulsa law firm that helped Walmart go public in 1970. In 1978, he finally joined the family business and was appointed vice chairman four years later. After his father's death in 1992, he took over as chairman.
Rob retired from Walmart's board of directors in June, ending a more than 40-year career as a director, including more than 20 years as chairman — a position that has been taken over by his son-in-law, · Penner, since 2015. Last October, Penner also succeeded Rob as controlling owner of the NFL's Denver Broncos, which a consortium led by Rob bought in 2022 for a record $4.7 billion.
Although the Walton family has sold more than $28 billion in Walmart stock and donated more than $11 billion worth of company stock over the past decade, several of Sam ·'s heirs still hold 45 percent of Walmart Inc., headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, because massive share buybacks prevented dilution of the family's shares. According to Forbes, three-quarters of the Walmart stock held by the family is almost equally divided between the families of Rob, Jim and Alice · Walton, and most of the rest belongs to the heirs of their brother John ·Walton (John Walton, who died in 2005): his widow Christy Walton (75·· age and son Lukas Walton (37), The duo are currently worth $13.6 billion and $28 billion, respectively.
This article is translated from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2024/09/25/rob-walton-just-joined-the-100-billion-club-for-the-first-time/
文:Matt Durot
Translation: Sunny
Proofreading: Vivian
Forbes China exclusive manuscript, please do not reprint without permission
头图来源：JOHN LAMPARSKI/GETTY
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