Three Walmart heirs have more than doubled their money since 2016, adding more than $100 billion to their combined fortunes.
Legendary founder Sam Walton’s three surviving children — Rob, Jim, and Alice — all hold top-20 spots on the Forbes rich list with personal fortunes of between $70 billion and $77 billion. They were less than half as wealthy in 2016.
They’re now worth a combined $224 billion, making them richer as a trio than Elon Musk, who’s number two on the list with an estimated $205 billion net worth.
Their wealth has ballooned in recent years thanks to Walmart stock, which has surged from below $75 in 2016 to a record high of $181 earlier this week.
It’s jumped 11% this year already, fueled by resilient consumer demand and mounting hopes that interest rates will be cut and the economy will escape a recession.
The Walton trio have garnered more than $45 billion in total from stock sales and dividends over the years, per Bloomberg. Together with other relatives, they own more than 1.25 billion shares, or more than 45% of the company — a stake valued at roughly $220 billion.
The Waltons as a whole were worth an estimated $267 billion in mid-January, a Forbes ranking of America’s richest families found. They were more than twice as wealthy as number two on the list, the Mars dynasty.
It’s striking that Walmart’s founding family owns such a big chunk of a public company with a nearly $500 billion market capitalization, and has several members on the board.
Many uber-rich families prefer to keep their companies private. That’s the case with Mars, Koch Industries, Cargill, Fidelity, Publix, Chick-fil-A, and others.
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