James Carr Walton (born June 7, 1948) is an American businessman, currently an heir to the fortune of

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 in the United States and 23 other ...

, the world's largest retailer. As of May 2025, Walton is the 12th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$114.1 billion according to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

. He is the youngest son of

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for Co-founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in Rogers, Arkansas, and Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1962 and 1983 res ...

Early life

Jim Walton was born in Newport, Jackson County, Arkansas, the third child of

co-founder

(1918–1992) and

Helen Walton Helen Robson Walton (December 3, 1919 – April 19, 2007) was an American philanthropist and prominent arts advocate, dedicated to being a grandmother and to her community in Bentonville, Arkansas where she instituted a committee for a national ...

(1919–2007), with siblings

Rob Walton Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton (born October 27, 1944) is an American billionaire heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. He is the eldest son of Helen Walton and Sam Walton, and was chairman of Walmart from 1992 to 2015. As ...

Alice Walton Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart as daughter of founder Sam Walton. As of May 2025, Walton has a net worth of $117 billion, making her the richest woman in the world and 13th richest ...

, and John Walton (1946 – 2005). Walton graduated from

Bentonville High School Bentonville High School (BHS) is a public high school in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States Founded in 1910, the school provides education for students in grades nine through twelve. It is one of two high schools of the Bentonville School Di ...

in 1965, where he was president of his junior class, played football at all-state level and also learned to fly a plane. Walton received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

Marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

in 1971, where he was also a member of the

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...

fraternity. In 1972, he joined Walmart and was involved in its real-estate dealings. After four years, he moved to the family owned

Walton Enterprises Walton Enterprises LLC (WEI) is an American investment holding company based in Bentonville, Arkansas that serves as a family office to manage the wealth of the Walton family, the owners of Walmart. Walton Enterprises is the largest shareholder ...

as president in 1975.

Career

On September 28, 2005, Walton replaced his deceased brother, John, on the Wal-Mart

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. He was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of his family owned

Arvest Bank Arvest Bank is a bank headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, with branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. It is the oldest bank in Arkansas and is on the list of largest banks in the United States. It is almost entirely owned by the ...

, until becoming Chairman of Arvest Bank, and chairman of newspaper firm Community Publishers Inc. (CPI) owned by Jim Walton himself (but founded by his father Sam Walton after acquiring the local newspaper the Benton County Daily Record, both operating in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

). He has pledged about $2 billion to the

Walton Family Foundation Walton Family Foundation is an American private foundation and the main philanthropic organization of the Walton family. It was created in 1987 by Walmart founder Sam Walton and his wife Helen Walton. As of 2023, the foundation's giving focuses ...

along with his siblings from 2008 to 2013. In September 2016, Walton was reported to own over 152 million of Walmart shares worth over $11 billion (US).

Personal life

He and his wife, Lynne McNabb Walton, have four children: Alice A. "Annie" Proietti (born November 1979),

Steuart Walton Steuart Walton (born 1981) is an American attorney and businessman. Born into the billionaire Walton family, he is a director of Walmart, the world's largest company by revenue, co-founder of private equity firm RZC Investments, which bought Brit ...

(born April 1981), Thomas Layton "Tom" Walton (born September 1983), and James M. Walton (born August 1987). The family resides in

Bentonville, Arkansas Bentonville is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adjacent to the east. The city proper had a population of 54,164 at the 2020 Unite ...

. In 2014, he was ranked at #10 on the

Forbes list of billionaires ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The ...

with a net worth of $34.7 billion that has increased by $3 billion. On the 2013

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is ...

list of the richest people in America he is ranked at #7. As of March 2019, he was ranked as the 16th-richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $45.7 billion. As of September 28, 2024, Jim Walton was ranked at #17 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $102 billion with a $ YTD change of +$29.8B.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Jim 1948 births American bankers American billionaires American corporate directors American retail chief executives Businesspeople from Arkansas Directors of Walmart Living people University of Arkansas alumni People from Newport, Arkansas People from Bentonville, Arkansas Walton family

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References