Editing Sam Walton

{{short description|American business magnate (1918–1992)}}
{{other uses}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Sam Walton
| image              = Sam-Walton.jpg
| caption            = Walton, sometime between 1985 and 1990
| alt                = 
| birth_name         = Samuel Moore Walton
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1918|3|29}}
| birth_place        = [[Kingfisher, Oklahoma]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1992|4|5|1918|3|29}}
| death_place        = [[Little Rock, Arkansas]], U.S.
| occupation         = [[Business magnate]]
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Helen Robson]]|1943}}
| resting_place      = Bentonville Cemetery
| children           = {{hlist||[[S. Robson Walton|Robson]]|[[John T. Walton|John]]|[[Jim Walton|Jim]]|[[Alice Walton|Alice]]}}
| relatives          = {{ubl|[[James "Bud" Walton]] (brother)|[[Lukas Walton]] (grandson)}}
| alma_mater         = [[University of Missouri]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])
| module             = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
  | allegiance         = {{flagu|United States|1912}}
  | branch             = {{dodseal|War|25}} U.S. Army
  | rank               = {{dodseal|USAO3-2015|25}} [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]]
  | battles            = [[World War II]]
  | unit               = [[Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)|Military Intelligence Corps]]
  | serviceyears       = 1942–1945
 }}
}}
'''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 [[Rogers, Arkansas]], and [[Midwest City, Oklahoma]], in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's largest corporation by revenue as well as the biggest private employer in the world.<ref name="rediff">{{cite web | title = Sam Walton Biography | url = https://www.7infi.com/sam-walton-biography-age-weight-height-friend-like-affairs-favourite-birthdate-other/ | work = 7infi.com|access-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810171106/https://www.7infi.com/sam-walton-biography-age-weight-height-friend-like-affairs-favourite-birthdate-other/|archive-date=August 10, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> For a period of time, Walton was the richest person in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Harris|first=Art|date=November 17, 1985|title=America's Richest Man Lives...Here?Sam Walton, Waiting in Line At the Wal-Mart With Everybody Else|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/11/17/americas-richest-man-livesheresam-walton-waiting-in-line-at-the-wal-mart-with-everybody-else/495390e7-3fa0-40ff-becc-6d881c8b3354/|access-date=March 22, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> [[Walton family|His family]] has remained the richest family in the U.S. for several consecutive years, with a net worth of around $440.6 billion US as of January 2025. In 1992 at the age of 74, Walton died of [[blood cancer]] and was buried at the Bentonville Cemetery in his longtime home of [[Bentonville, Arkansas]].

==Early life==
Samuel Moore Walton was born to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy Lee, in [[Kingfisher, Oklahoma]]. He lived there with his parents on their farm until 1923. However, farming did not provide enough money to raise a family, and Thomas Walton went into farm mortgaging. He worked for his brother's Walton Mortgage Company, which was an agent for [[Metropolitan Life]] Insurance,<ref>{{cite book | last = Walton | first = Sam | title = Sam Walton: Made in America | year = 2012 | publisher = Random House Publishing Group | isbn = 978-0-345-53844-4 | page = 4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Lee | first = Sally | title = Sam Walton: Business Genius of Wal-Mart | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=H04Warg9u3cC&q=farming+Sam+Walton+father+mortgage&pg=PA13 | access-date = December 30, 2012 | year = 2007 | publisher = Enslow Publishers, Inc. | isbn = 978-0766026926 | page = 13}}</ref> where he [[foreclosure|foreclosed]] on farms during the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Landrum | first = Gene N. | title = Entrepreneurial Genius: The Power of Passion | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fRdwUrLj2rgC&q=farming+Sam+Walton+father+mortgage&pg=PA120 | access-date = December 30, 2012 | year = 2004 | publisher = Brendan Kelly Publishing  | isbn = 1895997232 | page = 120}}</ref>

He and his family (now with another son, [[James "Bud" Walton|James]], born in 1921) moved from [[Oklahoma]]. They moved from one small town to another for several years, mostly in Missouri. While attending eighth grade in [[Shelbina, Missouri]], Sam became the youngest [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] in the state's history.<ref name="honor">{{cite book | last = Townley | first = Alvin | url = http://www.thomasdunnebooks.com/TD_TitleDetail.aspx?ISBN=0312366531 | title = Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America's Eagle Scouts | publisher = St. Martin's Press | location = Asia | pages = 88–89 | isbn = 0-312-36653-1 | access-date = December 29, 2006 | date = December 26, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061219180428/http://www.thomasdunnebooks.com/TD_TitleDetail.aspx?ISBN=0312366531 | archive-date = December 19, 2006 | url-status = live }}</ref> In adult life, Walton became a recipient of the [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award]] from the [[Boy Scouts of America]].<ref name="deshnikjiniuhgyalistt">{{cite web | url = http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/02-529.pdf | title = Distinguished Eagle Scouts | publisher = Scouting.org | access-date = November 4, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160312002744/http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/02-529.pdf | archive-date = March 12, 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Eventually the family moved to [[Columbia, Missouri]]. Growing up during the Great Depression, he did chores to help make financial ends meet for his family as was common at the time. He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers. Afterwards, he would deliver ''[[Columbia Daily Tribune]]'' newspapers on a paper route. In addition, he sold magazine subscriptions.<ref name="Forbes269">{{cite book | first1 = Daniel | last1 = Gross | author2 = [[Forbes|''Forbes'' Magazine]] Staff | date = August 1997 | title = Greatest Business Stories of All Time | edition = First | publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]]f | location = New York | isbn = 0-471-19653-3 | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/269 269] | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/269 | access-date = December 18, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200610115619/https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/269 | archive-date = June 10, 2020 | url-status = live }}</ref> Upon graduating from [[David H. Hickman High School]] in Columbia, he was voted "Most Versatile Boy".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sam and Bud Walton |url=https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/waltons/ |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=SHSMO Historic Missourians |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:SamWalton-1936.jpg|thumb|Walton in his high school yearbook, 1936]]
After high school, Walton decided to attend college, hoping to find a better way to help support his family. He attended the [[University of Missouri]] as an [[ROTC]] cadet. During this time, he worked various odd jobs, including waiting tables in exchange for meals. Also during his time in college, Walton joined the [[Zeta Phi]] chapter of [[Beta Theta Pi]] fraternity. He was also tapped by [[QEBH]], the well-known secret society on campus honoring the top senior men, and the national military honor society [[Scabbard and Blade]]. Additionally, Walton served as president of Burall Bible Class, a large class of students from the University of Missouri and [[Stephens College]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Walton | first=Sam | title=Sam Walton: Made in America | year=2012 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group| isbn=978-0-345-53844-4 | page=15}}</ref> Upon graduating in 1940 with a bachelor's degree in economics, he was voted "permanent president" of the class.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite journal | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635176/Sam-Walton | title = Sam Walton | journal = [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica Inc | year = 2012 | access-date = March 30, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131021202035/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635176/Sam-Walton | archive-date = October 21, 2013 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Furthermore, he elaborated that he learned from a very early age that it was important for them as kids to help provide for the home, to be givers rather than takers. Walton realized while serving in the army, that he wanted to go into retailing and to go into business for himself.<ref>{{Cite book | title = Sam Walton, Made in America: My Story | last = Walton | first = Sam | publisher = Doubleday| year = 1992 | pages = 5, 15, and 20}}</ref>

Walton joined [[J. C. Penney]] as a management trainee in [[Des Moines, Iowa]],<ref name="Britannica"/> three days after graduating from college.<ref name="Forbes269"/> This position paid him $75 a month. Walton spent approximately 18 months with J. C. Penney.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Walton | first=Sam | title=Sam Walton: Made in America | year=2012 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group| isbn=978-0-345-53844-4 | page=18}}</ref> He resigned in 1942 in anticipation of being inducted into the military for service in [[World War II]].<ref name="Forbes269"/> In the meantime, he worked at a [[DuPont]] munitions plant near [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]]. Soon afterwards, Walton joined the military in the [[Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army)|U.S. Army Intelligence Corps]], supervising security at aircraft plants. In this position he served at [[Fort Douglas, Utah|Fort Douglas]] in [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]].{{cn|date=March 2025}} He eventually reached the rank of [[Captain (United States O-3)|captain]].

==The first stores==
In 1945, after leaving the military, Walton took over management of his first variety store at the age of 26.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 4, 2012|title=Lessons from Sam Walton: How a social-local strategy brings the human touch back to business|url=https://hearsaysystems.com/2012/06/lessons-from-sam-walton/|access-date=December 5, 2020|website=Hearsay Systems|language=en-US|archive-date=January 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123111948/https://hearsaysystems.com/2012/06/lessons-from-sam-walton/|url-status=dead}}</ref> With the help of a $20,000 loan {{USDCY|20000|1945}} from his father-in-law, [[Leland Robson]], plus $5,000 {{USDCY|5000|1945}} he had saved from his time in the Army, Walton purchased a [[Ben Franklin (company)|Ben Franklin]] variety store in [[Newport, Arkansas]].<ref name="Forbes269"/> The store was a franchise of the [[Butler Brothers]] chain.

Walton pioneered many concepts that became crucial to his success. According to Walton, if he offered prices as good as or better than stores in cities that were four hours away by car, people would shop at home.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book | title = Wal-Mart| last = Sandra S. Vance | first = Roy V. Scott | publisher = Twayne Publishers | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-8057-9833-1 | location = New York | pages = 41}}</ref> Walton ensured the shelves were consistently stocked with a wide range of goods. His second store, the tiny "Eagle" department store, was down the street from his first Ben Franklin and next door to its main competitor in Newport.

With the sales volume growing from $80,000 to $225,000 in three years, Walton drew the attention of the landlord, P. K. Holmes, whose family had a history in retail.<ref name="ArkEncyclo">{{cite web | url = http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1792 | title = Sam Walton | publisher = Butler Center for Arkansas Studies | access-date = March 30, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120418173821/http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1792 | archive-date = April 18, 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref>
Admiring Sam's great success and desiring to reclaim the store and franchise rights for his son, he refused to renew the lease. The lack of a renewal option, together with the prohibitively high rent of 5% of sales, were early business lessons to Walton. Despite forcing Walton out, Holmes bought the store's inventory and fixtures for $50,000, which Walton called "a fair price".<ref>Walton & Huey, ''Made in America: My Story'', p. 30.</ref>

[[File:Walton's Five and Dime store, Bentonville, Arkansas.jpg|thumb|left|Walton's Five and Dime, now the Walmart Historical Museum, Bentonville]]
With a year left on the lease, but the store effectively sold, Walton, his wife, Helen, and his father-in-law managed to negotiate the purchase of a new location on the downtown square of [[Bentonville, Arkansas]]. Walton negotiated the purchase of a small discount store, and the title to the building, on the condition that he get a 99-year lease to expand into the shop next door. The owner of the shop next door refused six times, and Walton gave up on Bentonville when his father-in-law, without Sam's knowledge, paid the shop owner a final visit and $20,000 to secure the lease. He had just enough left from the sale of the first store to close the deal and reimburse Helen's father. They opened for business with a one-day remodeling sale on May 9, 1950.<ref name="ArkEncyclo"/>

Before he bought the Bentonville store, it was doing $72,000 in sales and it increased to $105,000 in the first year and then $140,000 and $175,000.<ref>{{cite book | last = Wenz | first = Peter S. | author-link = Peter Wenz | title = Take Back the Center: Progressive Taxation for a New Progressive Agenda | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TDPuSs2c27cC&q=Sam+Walton+Bentonville+%2472%2C000&pg=PA60 | access-date = December 30, 2012 | year = 2012 | publisher = [[MIT Press]] | isbn = 978-0262017886 | page = 60}}</ref>

==A chain of Ben Franklin stores==
With the new Bentonville "Five and Dime" opening for business and, 220 miles away, a year left on the lease in Newport, the money-strapped young Walton had to learn to delegate responsibility.<ref name="WaltonHuey">{{cite book | title = Made in America: My Story | last1 = Walton | first1 = Sam | author2 = John Huey | year = 1992 | publisher = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] | location = New York | isbn = 0-385-42615-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/samwaltonmadeina00walt}}</ref><ref name="Trimble">{{cite book | title = Sam Walton: the Inside Story of America's Richest Man | first1 = Vance H. | last1 = Trimble | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | year = 1991 | isbn = 0-451-17161-6}} {{ISBN|978-0-451-17161-0}}</ref>

After succeeding with two stores at such a distance (and with the [[Post–World War II baby boom|postwar baby boom]] in full effect), Walton became enthusiastic about scouting more locations and opening more [[Ben Franklin (company)|Ben Franklin franchises]]. (Also, having spent countless hours behind the wheel, and with his close brother [[James "Bud" Walton]] having been a pilot in the war, he decided to buy a small second-hand airplane. Both he and his son [[John T. Walton|John]] would later become accomplished pilots and log thousands of hours scouting locations and expanding the family business.).<ref name="WaltonHuey"/>

In 1954, he opened a store with his brother [[James "Bud" Walton|Bud]] in a shopping center in Ruskin Heights, a suburb of [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. With the help of his brother and father-in-law, Sam went on to open many new variety stores. He encouraged his managers to invest and take an equity stake in the business, often as much as $1000 in their store, or the next outlet to open. (This motivated the managers to sharpen their managerial skills and take ownership over their role in the enterprise.)<ref name="WaltonHuey"/> By 1962, along with his brother Bud, he owned 16 stores in Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas (fifteen Ben Franklins and one independent, in Fayetteville).<ref>{{Cite news | url = http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ben-franklin-store-a-throwback-to-the-five-and-dime/article_929768ec-f930-11e1-a9aa-0019bb30f31a.html | title = Ben Franklin store, a throwback to the five-and-dime, finally closes | author = Kavita Kumar | work = [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] | date = September 8, 2012 | access-date = July 26, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140830120803/http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ben-franklin-store-a-throwback-to-the-five-and-dime/article_929768ec-f930-11e1-a9aa-0019bb30f31a.html | archive-date = August 30, 2014 | url-status = live }}</ref>

==First Walmart==
{{Main|History of Walmart}}

The first true [[Walmart]] opened on July 2, 1962, in [[Rogers, Arkansas]].<ref name="Forbes272">{{cite book | first1 = Daniel | last1 = Gross | author2 = [[Forbes|''Forbes'' Magazine]] Staff | year= 1997 | title = Greatest Business Stories of All Time | edition = First | publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]], Inc | location = New York | isbn = 0-471-19653-3 | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/272 272] | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/272 }}</ref> Called the Wal-Mart Discount City store, it was located at 719 West Walnut Street. He launched a determined effort to market American-made products. Included in the effort was a willingness to find American manufacturers who could supply merchandise for the entire Walmart chain at a price low enough to meet the foreign competition.<ref name="Made In America">{{cite web | date = December 26, 2006 | url = http://www.anbhf.org/laureates/swalton.html | title = Sam Walton: Walmart Corporation | author1 = Yohannan T. Abraham | author2 = Yunus Kathawala | author3 = Jane Heron | publisher = American National Business Hall of Fame | work = The Journal of Business Leadership, Volume I, Number 1, Spring 1988 |url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020120164122/http://www.anbhf.org/laureates/swalton.html | archive-date = January 20, 2002 | access-date = January 2, 2014}}</ref>

As the [[Meijer]] store chain grew, it caught the attention of Walton. He came to acknowledge that his one-stop-shopping center format was based on Meijer's original innovative concept.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/11/west_michigan_grocery_magnate.html | title = Fred Meijer, West Michigan billionaire grocery magnate, dies at 91 | work = MLive.com | date = November 26, 2011 | access-date = November 26, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180410072436/http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/11/west_michigan_grocery_magnate.html | archive-date = April 10, 2018 | url-status = live }}</ref>
Contrary to the prevailing practice of American discount store chains, Walton located stores in smaller towns, not larger cities. To be near consumers, the only option at the time was to open outlets in small towns. Walton's model offered two advantages. First, existing competition was limited and secondly, if a store was large enough to control business in a town and its surrounding areas, other merchants would be discouraged from entering the market.<ref name=":0" />

To make his model work, he emphasized [[logistics]], particularly locating stores within a day's drive of Walmart's regional warehouses, and distributed through its own trucking service. Buying in volume and efficient delivery permitted sale of discounted name brand merchandise. Thus, sustained growth{{mdash}}from 1977's 190 stores to 1985's 800{{mdash}}was achieved.<ref name="Britannica" />

Given its scale and economic influence, Walmart is noted to significantly impact any region where it establishes a store. These impacts, both positive and negative, have been dubbed the "Walmart Effect".<ref name="The Walmart Effect">{{cite book | first = Charles | last = Fishman |date = 2006 | title = How The World's Most Powerful Company Really Works – and How It's Transforming the American Economy | publisher = [[The Penguin Press]], Inc | location = New York}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Walton married [[Helen Walton|Helen Robson]] on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1943.<ref name="Forbes269"/> They had four children: [[Samuel Robson Walton|Samuel Robson (Rob)]] born in 1944, [[John Thomas Walton|John Thomas]] (1946–2005), [[James Carr Walton|James Carr (Jim)]] born in 1948, and [[Alice Louise Walton|Alice Louise]] born in 1949.<ref name="Tedlow">{{cite journal | first1 = Richard S. | last1 = Tedlow | url = http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/2375.html | title = Sam Walton: Great From the Start | date = July 23, 2001 | publisher = [[Harvard Business School]] | journal = Working Knowledge | access-date = March 30, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151016052926/http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/2375.html | archive-date = October 16, 2015 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Walton supported various charitable causes. He and Helen were active in 1st Presbyterian Church in Bentonville;<ref>{{Cite news | url = https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2007/04/20/presbyterian-obit-on-wal-mart-founder-s-widow/ | title = Presbyterian obit on Wal-Mart founder's widow | last = Hodges | first = Sam | newspaper = [[The Dallas Morning News]] | date = April 20, 2007 | access-date = November 1, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191101002817/https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2007/04/20/presbyterian-obit-on-wal-mart-founder-s-widow/ | archive-date = November 1, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref> Sam served as an Elder and a Sunday School teacher, teaching high school age students.<ref>{{Cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/books/review/Frank-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 | title = Nickel and Dimed | author = Robert Frank | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = July 25, 2009 | access-date = February 18, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170821213941/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/books/review/Frank-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 | archive-date = August 21, 2017 | url-status = live }}</ref> The family made substantial contributions to the congregation. Walton worked the concept of “service leadership” into the corporate structure of Walmart based on the concept of [[Jesus|Christ]] being a servant leader and emphasized the importance of serving others based in [[Christianity]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Colleen |title=God and Walmart |date=November 19, 2009 |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/11/god-and-walmart/ |access-date=October 6, 2021}}</ref>

Walton was diagnosed and treated for [[Hairy cell leukemia]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hayes |first1=Thomas |title=Sam Walton Is Dead At 74; the Founder Of Wal-Mart Stores |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 6, 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/06/us/sam-walton-is-dead-at-74-the-founder-of-wal-mart-stores.html |access-date=Mar 14, 2022}}</ref>

===Death===
Walton died on Sunday, April 5, 1992 (three months shy of Walmart's thirtieth anniversary), of [[multiple myeloma]], a type of blood cancer,<ref>{{cite book | last = Walton | first = Sam | title = Sam Walton: Made in America | publisher = Bantam Books | isbn = 0-553-56283-5 | page = 329 | year = 1993}}</ref> in [[Little Rock, Arkansas]].<ref name="death">{{cite news | last = Ortega | first = Bob | url = https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/o/ortega-sam.html | title = In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and How Wal-Mart Is Devouring America | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | access-date = February 7, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050409203145/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/o/ortega-sam.html | archive-date = April 9, 2005 | url-status = live }}</ref> A few days earlier, according to his son, Walton was still reviewing sales data in his hospital bed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fishman |first=Charles |title=[[The Wal-Mart Effect]] |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-0-14-303878-8 |location=New York, NY |pages=31 |quote=His oldest son said Walton was reviewing store-level sales data, in his hospital bed, days before he died.}}</ref> The news of his death was relayed by satellite to all 1,960 Walmart stores.<ref name="Forbes283">{{cite book | first1 = Daniel | last1 = Gross | author2 = [[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]] Staff | date = August 1997 | title = Greatest Business Stories of All Time | edition = First | publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]], Inc | location = New York | isbn = 0-471-19653-3 | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/283 283] | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_0471196533/page/283 }}</ref> At the time, his company employed 400,000 people. Annual sales of nearly $50&nbsp;billion flowed from 1,735 Walmarts, 212 Sam's Clubs, and 13 Supercenters.<ref name="Britannica"/>

His remains are interred at the Bentonville Cemetery. He left his ownership in Walmart to his wife and their children: [[S. Robson Walton|Rob Walton]] succeeded his father as the Chairman of Walmart, and [[John T. Walton|John Walton]] was a director until his death in a 2005 plane crash. The others are not directly involved in the company (except through their voting power as shareholders), however his son [[Jim Walton]] is chairman of Arvest Bank. The Walton family held five spots in the top ten richest people in the United States until 2005. Two daughters of Sam's brother [[Bud Walton]] &mdash; [[Ann Walton Kroenke|Ann Kroenke]] and [[Nancy Walton Laurie|Nancy Laurie]] &mdash; hold smaller shares in the company.<ref>{{cite magazine | title = Ann Walton Kroenke | url = https://www.forbes.com/profile/ann-walton-kroenke/ | magazine = [[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]] | access-date = October 31, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190727021752/https://www.forbes.com/profile/ann-walton-kroenke/ | archive-date = July 27, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:President George H. W. Bush and Sam Walton.jpg|thumb|Walton (right) and President [[George H. W. Bush]] (left) in March 1992; Sam Walton died 18 days after this photo was taken.]]
In 1998, Walton was included in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'}}s [[Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century|list of 100 most influential people of the 20th Century]].<ref>{{cite magazine | url = http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/walton.html | title = Time 100 Builders & Titans: Sam Walton | date = December 7, 1998 | magazine = [[Time Magazine]] | access-date = March 31, 2012 |url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20001018095153/http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/walton.html | archive-date = October 18, 2000}} at [[Wayback Machine]]<!-- archive--></ref> Walton was honored for his work in retail in March 1992, just one month before his death, when he received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] from then-President [[George H. W. Bush]].<ref name="Forbes283"/>

''[[Forbes]]'' ranked Sam Walton as the richest person in the United States from 1982 to 1988, ceding the top spot to [[John Kluge]] in 1989 when the editors began to credit Walton's fortune jointly to him and his four children.<ref>{{Cite news | url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2010/09/09/oldest-billionaire-on-the-forbes-400-dies-at-96/ | title = Billionaire John Kluge Dies At 96 | author = Clare O'Connor | work = [[Forbes]] | date = September 9, 2010 | access-date = September 11, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170820081356/https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2010/09/09/oldest-billionaire-on-the-forbes-400-dies-at-96/ | archive-date = August 20, 2017 | url-status = live }}</ref> ([[Bill Gates]] first headed the list in 1992, the year Walton died.) Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. also runs [[Sam's Club]] warehouse stores.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Walmart's test store for new technology, Sam's Club Now, opens next week in Dallas|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/28/walmarts-test-store-for-new-technology-sams-club-now-opens-next-week-in-dallas/|access-date=November 6, 2020|website=TechCrunch|date=October 29, 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref> Walmart operates in the United States and in more than fifteen international markets, including: [[Argentina]], [[Brazil]], [[Canada]], [[Chile]], [[China]], [[Costa Rica]], [[El Salvador]], [[Guatemala]], [[India]], [[South Africa]], [[Botswana]], [[Ghana]], [[Malawi]], [[Mozambique]], [[Namibia]], [[Tanzania]], [[Uganda]], [[Zambia]], [[Kenya]], [[Lesotho]], [[Eswatini]] (Swaziland), [[Honduras]],
[[Japan]], [[Mexico]], [[Nicaragua]] and the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>[http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/9350.aspx International Operations Data Sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111035737/http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/9350.aspx |date=January 11, 2010 }} [[Walmart]] Corporation, July 2009.</ref>

At the [[University of Arkansas]], the Business College ([[Sam M. Walton College of Business]]) is named in his honor. Walton was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1992.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992/03/23/76198/index.htm | title = The National BUSINESS HALL OF FAME | author = Patty de Llosa and Jessica Skelly von Brachel | work = [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] | publisher = Peter Nulty Reporter Associates | date = March 23, 1992 | access-date = May 25, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305220917/http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992/03/23/76198/index.htm | archive-date = March 5, 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Walton family]]
* [[List of richest Americans in history]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | title = Sam Walton: the Inside Story of America's Richest Man | first1 = Vance H. | last1 = Trimble | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | year = 1991 | isbn =978-0-451-17161-0}}
* {{cite book | title = Made in America: My Story | url = https://archive.org/details/samwaltonmadeina00walt | url-access = registration | last1 = Walton | first1 = Sam | author2 = John Huey | year = 1992 | publisher = Doubleday | location = New York | isbn = 0-385-42616-X}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | first1 = Anthony | last1 = Bianco | title = The Bully of Bentonville: how the high cost of Wal-Mart's everyday low prices is hurting America | location = New York | publisher = Currency/Doubleday | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-385-51356-9 | url = https://archive.org/details/bullyofbentonvil00bian}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Roy Vernon | last1 = Scott | first2 = Sandra Stringer | last2 = Vance | title = Wal-Mart: A History of Sam Walton's Retail Phenomenon | isbn = 0-8057-9833-1 | year = 1994| publisher = Twayne Publishers }}
*Fishman, C. (2006). ''The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works – and HowIt's Transforming the American Economy''. Penguin.
*Marquard, W. H. (2007). ''Wal-Smart: What it really takes to profit in a Wal-Mart world''. McGraw Hill Professional.
*[https://www.biography.com/business-figure/sam-walton Sam Walton, Bibliography.]

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{cite magazine | url = http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/walton.html | title = Time 100 Builders & Titans: Sam Walton by John Huey | date = December 7, 1998 | magazine = [[Time Magazine]] | access-date = March 31, 2012 |url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20001018095153/http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/walton.html | archive-date = October 18, 2000}} at [[Wayback Machine]]<!-- archive-->
* [https://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2004-08-08/sam-walton-king-of-the-discounters Week Sam Walton: The King of the Discounters August 8, 2004]
* [http://waltoncollege.uark.edu Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508062140/http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/ |date=May 8, 2015 }}
* {{Find a Grave|6779534}}
*[http://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/robson-frank/ Voices of Oklahoma interview, Chapters 12–16, with Frank Robson.] First person interview conducted on November 2, 2009, with Frank Robson, brother-in-law of Sam Walton.

{{Wal-Mart}}
{{Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kingfisher, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Columbia, Missouri]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Sam}}
[[Category:American billionaires]]
[[Category:American retail company founders]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:American retail chief executives]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Arkansas]]
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[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Arkansas]]
[[Category:Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:University of Missouri alumni]]
[[Category:Hickman High School alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:Walton family|Sam]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]