The numbers are really astronomical: $ 100 million a day, $ 4 million an hour, $ 70.000 a minute.
The fortunes of the Waltons, the Walmart family that has long been at the top of its annual list, are growing so fast. Bloomberg with the richest families on the planet.
As their money grows, they have already made another $ 23.000 by the time you read these lines! At the same time, of course, an employee who starts his career in the world's largest retail chain will have made… 6 cents, as he is paid only $ 11 an hour.
Indeed, even in the current context of extreme wealth accumulation and extreme income inequalities, the Walton figures are staggering.
The heirs of Sam Walton, the visionary, innovative and relentlessly slaughtered "patriarch", are cleaning up today more than ever. More than their father could have imagined, a first name in his years among the richest crooks in the world.
Bloomberg recently estimated (August 2019) their total fortune at $ 191 billion, $ 39 billion more than last year (June 2018), when they climbed back to the royal position.
Forbes, on the other hand, tells us that the youngest of Sam's three children, Jim Walton, is the 16th richest man in the world, with a personal fortune of $ 44,6 billion.
In the next two positions of the magazine's famous list of the richest tycoons on the planet are his other two brothers: in 17th place Alice Walton, with a fortune of 44,4 billion dollars, and in 18th Rob Walton with his 44,3 billion.
Sam's other two heirs, the unfortunate son John (died in 2005) and his wife Ellen (2007), once played in similar positions. John's widow, Christy Walton, and their son Lucas have all been included in such lists, several levels below, of course: Lucas is now, according to Forbes, the 75th richest man in the world, with a fortune of $ 15,2 billion. , and his mom, Christy, figures at number 203 with 7,2 billion.
In its third generation today, with the grandchildren of old Sam gaining positions of responsibility in the supermarket empire, the Walton Dynasty of Arkansas is holding up well, continuing to own half of the colossus. Walmart remains the world's largest retailer in terms of turnover, with annual sales of $ 514 billion from its nearly 12.000 stores worldwide.
The Waltons own the world's largest fortune, something Barba-Sam secured by splitting their shares and ownership before his death in 1992. Others work in the family empire, either as board members or as executive directors. , and others pursued their dreams outside of Walmart.
Sam Walton was not a man who loved her πολυτέλεια and waste. But his children had a different opinion…
Seven heirs were left behind by Sam Walton (died 1992) and his unrecognized brother James (died 1995), all of whom shouted Bad. Four children and a widow Sam, two children Bad. And this Bud was not exactly a negligible amount, as his two daughters are also billionaires.
At No. 244 of the richest people in his world Forbes Ann Walton-Krenke with her 6,5 billion dollars and at No. 303 Nancy Walton-Laurie with her own 5,7 billion.
Sam and Bud founded the first Walmart in Arkansas in 1962, listed their company on the stock exchange in 1970, and today is one of the largest U.S. companies in the industry. Sam married Ellen Robson, the offspring of a banker family, on Valentine's Day in 1943, and they had four children, Rob, John, Jim and Alice.
By the time he left the world in 1992, Sam had made the matte move, as everyone recognizes him: he had acquired the ownership of Walmart's management company, Walton Enterprises (which still owns 50% of Walmart), with in such a way as to minimize the taxes that his heirs would have to pay.
Each of his children had 20% of Walton Enterprises, leaving him a 10% and another 10% to his wife. When she died, Ellen inherited her own 10% without paying one to the state! It was a quirky alloy of family ownership.
Samuel Robson (Rob), as the eldest son, held the position of Walmart president from the time his father died until 2015. He had three children (with his first wife), had three marriages and when he resigned president put his son-in-law in his place. He is still on the board, as the only one of Sam's children who are currently involved in supermarkets.
He lives in a house in Arizona, outside of which strikers once gathered to protest for better wages. He could see them through the windows of his huge garage with the antiques of millions. In 2013, he crashed his Shelby Daytona Coupe and completely destroyed it, a $ 15 million car, one of only five ever built by Carol Selby.
He even shocked the world in 2001 when he dethroned Bill Gates from the list of the richest people in the world. They have never seen him in secular gala and glamorous premieres, making sure he always goes unnoticed. And to do everything in his power to make his photos disappear from the agencies, alas.
John was the second child of Sam and Ellen, who was killed in a plane crash in 2005. He was married to Christie and had one child, Lucas. John left 17% of his share to his widow and the remaining 3% went to his son and to charity.
Lokatzis in Vietnam War, returning to the USA, dealt with many different things, including a corporate pilot of Walmart! And spray pilot then. After building some of his own yacht companies, he finally joined the family giant's board. An adventurous and deeply philanthropic man, he was killed in his experimental private jet.
James "Jim" Walton is Sam's youngest son and remains chairman of the $ 18 billion family investment bank Arvest Bank. He was a board member of Walmart for more than a decade, before resigning in 2016 to make way for his son Stewart. The first grandchild of Barba-Sam to join the company.
He has four children and continues to oversee a good portion of the empire from the same humble Arkansas offices. Like the other brothers, he received a degree in economics from a public university.
The youngest of four brothers, Alice Walton, has two divorces and no children. As a black sheep, he never wanted to take an active role in his father's business. Instead, he became a patron of the arts and now has a huge private collection of works of art that would be the envy of museums and museums.
In fact, in 2011 she opened a gallery in the middle of nowhere to house and admire her paintings, worth a total of $ 500 million. The Museum Her is so beautiful and special that everyone wants to get married there. And they can, with the unpaid always.
The world's second richest woman is also involved in horses, remaining one of America's best-known breeders. Until he sells them all in 2017 at least, and the thousands of acres and the awesome facilities, for an amount that was never announced.
Last year, it donated $ 3,7 million worth of $ 225 million worth of Walmart shares to the Walton Family Foundation. The foundation was set up by Sam and Ellen to teach their children the value of giving.
At the institution, all the brothers submit their obol and everyone is compulsorily handled by a field of action, from educational initiatives to environmental activities. So that "they learn to give back and cooperate", as their dad used to say.
As for their first cousins, the daughters of Bud, they have not done badly in their speech. Ann Walton inherited her father's share, alongside her sister Nancy, but never became involved with Walmart.
Instead, she married her cousin, Stan Krenke, its owner Arsenal, although in the USA he is the big boss of the world of sports, having teams in the NBA (Denver Nuggets), American football, baseball, hockey, lacrosse etc. Forbes estimates his fortune at $ 8,5 billion.
The couple has two children, two golden heirs who will at some point put in hand a piece from both empires.
As for Nancy, Bud's youngest daughter, she has excelled in both business and charity. She lives with her husband and daughter in Las Vegas and is involved in many different things, including horse racing.
Extremely inaccessible to the press and cameras, the Waltons only make appearances when it comes to charity events, while at least in public they seem to live simple lives, without exaggeration.
Probably the legacy of the "patriarch" Sam, who avoided publicity as if he had cholera. He gave us a possible explanation for this in his autobiography, saying how difficult the title of the richest man in the world had made his life. Because in his years he was of course the richest, the best businessman of all times, as foretold by the economic press of his time.
"The media portrayed me as an eccentric hermit, a peasant sleeping with his dogs, even though he had billions of dollars registered." Sam hated unnecessary newspaper coverage and even personal exposure.
As for Ellen, she held the reins of the family after his death as the richest American and 11th richest woman in the world there in the late 1990s. move to another city and found Walmart in 1945.
Sam attributed much to the innovative operation of his chain, considering it the quiet force behind his business demon. Ellen thought of, say, the No. 1 move that made her supermarkets so successful: in the early days of Walmart you see every store manager getting a percentage of the profits. The percentage later became a productivity bonus.
She retired from the colossus at some point and served as president of the family foundation, protecting the arts, letters and people. When he passed away in 2007 he had three children, 8 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
None of this would have been possible without the man who got a bankrupt franchise in 1945, he saved it from the worst and 17 years later launched a chain that was coming to remain as the largest private employer on the planet.
By the time he left the world in 1992, his business model was taught in economics schools and everyone was talking about the greatest commercial intellect of the modern world.
"Always make your customers happier and happier with your products or services," he used to say. And not only to say, but also to act. For 45 whole years, Sam has been thinking and establishing every week a plan, a plan, an initiative with more or less improvements that will be implemented the very next day.
Every Saturday he specifically met the managers of his stores and the improvements were implemented next Monday. Every Monday. For almost half a century. Even if it was his machines brown in his canteens.
Walton copied the competition, listened to his employees, consulted his relatives, welcomed comments from wherever they came from. Remaining truly open to criticism.
Although he has gone down in business history as a proverbial miser, Sam did not build his empire because he did not want to spend out of his own pocket. But because he tended to constantly experiment with new ideas and accept mistakes and hassle as part of the job.
And he was one of the first to embrace modern technology wholeheartedly, often paying a lot of money there in the early days of automation.
The Waltons still live by his legacy. A legacy that when it goes through good quarters, the offspring become hundreds of millions richer…