If Sam Walton Were Alive Today, He'd Be the Richest Person in History—By a Mile

Before there was Jeff Bezos and Amazon, there was Sam Walton and Walmart. The Walmart founder, who passed away in 1992 at the age of 74, lived one of the most incredible business success stories of all time. He single-handedly invented the concept of a large discount chain store and proved that these stores could not only survive but thrive in rural areas far away from major cities. His philosophy was simple: high volume, low prices, and customer satisfaction. The result? A retail empire that transformed the way Americans shop and created one of the largest personal fortunes in history.

Last week, Walmart hit an all-time high of $105 per share, briefly giving the retail giant an $835 billion market cap. This milestone prompts an intriguing question:

How rich would Sam Walton be today if he were still alive? 

The Hypothetical Net Worth of Sam Walton in 2025

As we mentioned a moment ago, Sam Walton died in 1992 at the age of 74. Before his death, Sam had already transferred the majority of his Walmart ownership to his children. At his peak before the restructuring, Sam owned 38% of Walmart.

If Sam were alive today, he would be a month she of his 107th birthday, and his 38% stake in Walmart would be worth $323 billion (at the recent $850 billion market cap). But that's not all.

Walmart has been a dividend powerhouse since the 1970s, consistently increasing payouts to shareholders. For example, if Sam owned 38% of Walmart today, that would be around 1.026 billion shares of the 2.7 billion total shares outstanding. Walmart currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share. So, his quarterly dividend would be $584 million. On an annual basis he would receive $2.34 billion. If Sam reinvested every single dividend back into Walmart stock over the past 33 years, his original holdings would have multiplied many times over. With dividend reinvestment in the years since his death, his hypothetical personal fortune would likely be worth over $500 billion. If he had not reinvested his dividends in Walmart and simply sat on the cash or made other investments, it's hard not to imagine a scenario where he would be worth at least $400 billion today. And that tracks when you consider the following current net worths of his heirs:

1. Jim Walton: $119 billion
2. Rob Walton: $116 billion
3. Alice Walton: $116 billion
4. Lukas Walton: $40 billion (son of the late John T. Walton)
5. Christy Walton: $20 billion (widow of the late John T. Walton)

Sum = $411 billion

Where The Fortune Went

As we mentioned, by the time of his death in 1992, Sam Walton had already transferred the majority of his Walmart ownership to his children. He split his shares evenly among his four children, Rob, John, Jim, and Alice. Tragically, John died in a plane crash in 2005. He left around half of his fortune to charity the other half to his son Lukas and widow Christy.

According to Walmart's most recent public disclosures, here's how much of Walmart the heirs own today:

• Jim Walton: 11.6%
• Rob Walton: 11.3%
• Alice Walton: 11.5%
• Lukas Walton: 3.8%
• Christy Walton: 2%

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A Man Who Never Flaunted His Wealth

Despite his growing fortune during his lifetime, Sam Walton never lived lavishly. He continued driving his beat-up old truck, living in the same modest home since the 1950s, and flying coach on business trips. When visiting Walmart stores, he often stayed with store managers instead of in hotels. His no-frills lifestyle and relentless work ethic made him an icon of humble success.

In 1985, Forbes declared Sam Walton the richest person in the world, estimating his net worth at $2.8 billion (equivalent to about $6.5 billion today). Sam hated the title. After the announcement, customers and employees started asking him to autograph dollar bills, a tradition he found awkward but obliged.

As Walton once put it: "All of that hullabaloo about somebody's net worth is just stupid and it's made my life a lot more complex."

How Sam Would Rank Today Among Billionaires

If Sam Walton were still alive, his $400+ billion fortune would make him by far the richest person in the world today.

1. Sam Walton (400+ billion, hypothetical)
2. Elon Musk ($350 billion)
3. Mark Zuckerberg ($232 billion)
4. Jeff Bezos ($230 billion)
5. Bernard Arnault ($192 billion)
6. Larry Ellison ($186 billion)
7. Bill Gates ($165 billion)
8. Warren Buffett ($157 billion)
9. Larry Page ($153 billion)
10. Sergey Brin ($144 billion)
11. Steve Ballmer ($138 billion)
12. Jim Walton ($119 billion)
13. Rob Walton ($116 billion)
14. Alice Walton ($116 billion)

Note that his three surviving children are the 12th, 13th, and 14th richest people in the world, with a combined net worth of $351 billion. Let's say John T. Walton did not die in a plane crash in 2005 and, therefore, did not leave a big portion of his wealth to charity. Today, he would be worth around $120 billion. That would mean Sam's four surviving children would have a combined net worth of $470 billion. So ya, it makes sense that if Sam was still alive today, he would almost certainly be worth close to $500 billion and would, therefore be the undisputed richest person in the world.