Nancy Walton Laurie (born May 15, 1951) is an American heir to the

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

fortune. She is also a businesswoman and a philanthropist.

Early life

Nancy Walton was born on May 15, 1951. She is the younger daughter of

Bud Walton James Lawrence "Bud" Walton (December 20, 1921 – March 21, 1995) was the brother of Sam Walton and co-founder of Walmart. Biography Early life Walton was born to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy "Nannie" Lee Lawrence Walton on December 20, 19 ...

, the brother and business partner of

founder

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...

. She grew up in

Versailles, Missouri Versailles is a city in Morgan County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,482 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County. Locally, the town's name is pronounced “Ver-sails”, rather than “Ver-seye,” as in the Fr ...

, where she met future husband

Bill Laurie Bill Laurie is an American former basketball player and coach, and current business executive and philanthropist. He is the former owner of the St. Louis Blues and is the co-chairman of Paige Sports Entertainment. Early life Laurie grew up in ru ...

. At Bud's death, she and her sister Ann Walton Kroenke inherited a stake in Walmart now worth over $9 billion.

Philanthropy

With her husband, she donated US$25 million to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

for the construction of a new sports arena for the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...

in 2001, to be named after their daughter Paige Laurie, who did not attend the university.Stephanie Simon
Fuming at What Isn't in a Name: A University of Missouri sports complex is named after philanthropists' child, who goes to USC.
''The Los Angeles Times'', April 04, 2004Sarah DeShazo

''Inside Philanthropy'', July 31, 2013 However, it was revealed shortly after the 2004–05 basketball season started that Paige Laurie paid her USC roommate to do much of her homework for her, even after the roommate left the university due to financial issues. The Lauries gave up the naming rights on November 23, 2004, to the university, which then renamed the arena with the university's common nickname "Mizzou" and removed all mention of Elizabeth Paige Laurie from the venue, beyond the bare minimum required to acknowledge the Lauries' gift. They have also endowed the E. Paige Laurie Professorship for the Equine Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri. According to ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', they have also made charitable gifts for "a cancer research center" and "a shelter for abused women" and "a children's hospital." Laurie is the founder of the Nancy Walton Laurie Leadership Institute at the

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chap ...

sorority. She was the president and founder of a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

dance company called the

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet was a New York City-based contemporary ballet company. Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet was founded in 2003 by Nancy Walton Laurie.Luke JenningsCedar Lake Contemporary Ballet – review: Sadler's Wells, London ''The Gu ...

, which closed in 2015. She is the owner of th
Columbia Performing Arts Centre
a dance studio located in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

Personal life

Laurie married Bill Laurie, after a courtship that occurred when they both attended the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

(then known as Memphis State University). The couple resides primarily in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...

, owning a mansion in

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

and

Bel Air, California Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universi ...

.Matt Lopez
Walmart Heiress Seeks Damages From Bel Air's 901 Strada Vecchia
''

The Beverly Hills Courier ''The Beverly Hills Courier'' is a free weekly tabloid-sized print newspaper of circulation in Beverly Hills and the surrounding communities, and a daily web newspaper. History The publication was founded by March Schwartz in 1965. His staff incl ...

'', January 23, 2015, pp. 1;11Las Vegas Business Press :: News : Inspirada brings 'New Urbanism' feel to Henderson community
/ref> They also have homes in Columbia, Missouri, where they own an equine farm where they breed

appaloosa The Appaloosa is an American horse breed best known for its colorful spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's colo ...

horses,Ashley Jost
Barn a complete loss after Crown Center Farms fire: Apartment burns in separate blaze.
'' Columbia Daily Tribune'', March 24, 2014 and Bel Air,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In January 2015, she filed a lawsuit through her company, LW Partnership, against

Mohamed Hadid Mohamed Anwar Hadid ( ar, محمد حديد; born ) Note: Source gives birthplace as "Nazareth, Palestine". is a Jordanian Americans, Jordanian-American real estate developer. He is known for building luxury hotels and mansions, mainly in the ...

, a property developer who is building a retaining wall next to the Bel Air house, alleging Hadid damaged the roots of a

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

tree. According to the

Center for Investigative Reporting The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) is a nonprofit news organization based in Emeryville, California. It was founded in 1977 as the nation’s first nonprofit investigative journalism organization, and has since grown into a multi-plat ...

, Walton uses "at least 2.3 million gallons (8.7 million liters) per year" to water her Bel Air estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Nancy Walton Laurie, Nancy Walton Laurie, Nancy Walton Laurie, Nancy Laurie, Nancy 1951 births Living people Walton Laurie, Nancy People from Columbia, Missouri Walton Laurie, Nancy Walton Laurie, Nancy Rock Bridge High School alumni Walton Laurie, Nancy Walton Laurie, Nancy People from Versailles, Missouri 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesswomen