The Waltons Are Getting Richer

The Waltons Are Getting Richer

Douglas A. McIntyre

Thu, September 17, 2026 at 5:14 PM GMT+3 3 min read

Quick Read

• The three Walton heirs each hold net worths above $133 billion, collectively owning roughly 49% of Walmart's $855 billion market cap.

• Walmart's net income dropped 8.7% last quarter even as total revenue climbed 5.9% to $188 billion, masking weakness in the US market.

• CEO John Furner flagged rising gas prices as the primary driver of mounting financial stress among Walmart's lower-income shoppers.

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Among the 15 richest billionaires on the Bloomberg Billionaires list, almost everyone made their money as a tech company founder or CEO. The tech label does not apply to Warren Buffett. The founder part does. Only one group on the list simply got lucky. This is the Walton family, who are only on the list because their patriarch, Sam Walton, founded Walmart (NYSE: WMT), the second-largest retailer in America, and also the second-largest among all companies based on revenue (Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is ahead in both cases. Its founder, Jeff Bezos, has a net worth of $272 billion, which puts him in fourth place on the list).

The Waltons are also very rich. The richest are his children. Jim Walton has a net worth of $137 billion, which is up $430 million this year. Rob Walton has a net worth of $134 billion, up $23 million over the same period. Daughter Alice Walton has a net worth of $133 billion, up $42 million.

Walmart had a very good year until it didn't. It handily outperformed the S&P through late May. Then, it became clear that the low end of the retail market was struggling, based on customer incomes. Walmart was not alone in the discovery: McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) made a similar observation in its most recent earnings report.

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Walmart revenue in the most recent quarter was healthy, but it masked trouble in the US. Total revenue rose 5.9% to $187.9 billion. Net income dropped 8.7% to $6.5 billion. However, US comparable store sales rose only 2.6%. A few weeks earlier, Walmart CEO John Furner said, "And then we've seen some more signs of stress at the lower income levels." He blamed rising gas prices for most of it. Since that statement, gas prices have risen even further.

The Walton family owns about 49% of Walmart's shares. Walmart has a market cap of $855 billion. Among Sam Walton's children, gas prices aren't an issue.

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How do you continue to grow a seven-figure portfolio in retirement? The last thing you want is to run out of money, you want your money to generate lasting income while you enjoy your life.

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