Jim Walton

Early life Jim Walton was born in Newport, Jackson County, Arkansas, the third child of Walmart co-founder Sam Walton (1918–1992) and Helen Walton (1919–2007), with siblings Rob Walton, Alice Walton, and John Walton (1946 – 2005). Walton graduated from Bentonville High School 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 in Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1971, where he was also a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

Career On September 28, 2005, Walton replaced his deceased brother, John, on the Wal-Mart Board of Directors. ). He has pledged about $2 billion to the Walton Family Foundation 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).

Political activity Walton spent $111,600 in political contributions during the 2008 United States elections, largely in favor of Republicans. He supported the presidential campaign of John McCain. From 2015 to 2018, Walton donated $543,800 to two PACs affiliated with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. In 2024, he donated $500,000 to a group lobbying against the proposed Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment, which would have required private schools that accept public funding in the form of school vouchers to meet the same academic standards as public schools. As of August 2026, Walton spent $10.7 million in support of Republican candidates in the 2026 United States elections.

Personal life He and his wife, Lynne McNabb Walton, have four children: Alice A. "Annie" Proietti (born November 1979), Steuart Walton (born April 1981), Thomas Layton "Tom" Walton (born September 1983), and James M. Walton (born August 1987). The family resides in Bentonville, Arkansas.

In 2014, he was ranked at #10 on the Forbes list of billionaires with a net worth of $34.7 billion that has increased by $3 billion. On the 2013 Forbes 400 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.