SAM WALTON

Born in 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Grew up during the Depression.

Worked odd jobs starting at age seven. Eagle Scout.

Quarterback. Student body president.

The résumé of someone who was always going to succeed at something.

Opened his first Ben Franklin franchise store in Newport, Arkansas in 1945 with a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law. Lost the lease after five years because the landlord wanted the successful store for himself.

Instead of quitting, Walton moved to Bentonville and started over.

Opened the first Walmart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. The thesis: sell everything cheaper than department stores by keeping costs ruthlessly low.

By 1970 there were 38 stores. By 1980, 276.

By his death in 1992, 1,928. Walmart surpassed all competitors to become the largest retailer in world history.

Walmart Inc. is the only company that matters.

It's the largest company in the world by revenue ($650+ billion annually) and the largest private employer (2.1 million associates). It operates over 10,500 stores in 19 countries.

Sam's Club — the membership warehouse chain — launched in 1983 as Walmart's answer to Costco and Price Club.

The Walton family — through the Walton Enterprises holding company and the Walton Family Foundation — controls approximately 46% of Walmart's stock. The combined family wealth exceeds $250 billion, making the Waltons the richest family in the world.

Walton was a retail operator, not a financial investor. His "investment" was in one company — Walmart — and his strategy was operational excellence.

Buy cheaper, sell cheaper, manage costs obsessively, and pass the savings to customers. Repeat forever.

His competitive advantage was information and logistics. Walmart was one of the first retailers to use computer systems for inventory management, satellite communications between stores and headquarters, and hub-and-spoke distribution centers that could resupply stores within 24 hours.

He was also a relentless competitor. He would fly his small plane over competitors' parking lots to count cars and estimate their sales.

He'd visit competitors' stores and take notes. He studied every enemy obsessively.

Walmart itself. Walton turned a single store into the largest company in the world.

The compound growth is staggering: from one store in 1962 to 1,928 at his death to 10,500+ today. His family's Walmart shares are worth over $200 billion.

It's the single greatest retail success story in history.

Walton was so focused on low costs that employee wages and benefits became Walmart's biggest vulnerability. The company has been criticized for decades over low pay, poor benefits, and anti-union practices.

These labor issues have damaged Walmart's brand and created political opposition. The cost obsession that built the empire also created its most persistent criticism.

Walton believed the customer is always right and the lowest price always wins. Every business decision was filtered through one question: does this make things cheaper for the customer?

If it doesn't, don't do it.

He also believed in sharing information and profits with employees (which he called "associates"). Walmart had profit-sharing and stock purchase plans from the early days.

He said employees who felt like owners would work like owners.

His deepest conviction: there is always room to cut costs. Always.

No matter how efficient you think you are, someone is doing it cheaper somewhere.

Married to Helen Robson Walton in 1943. They had four children: Rob, John, Jim, and Alice.

All four became billionaires through Walmart stock. Rob Walton served as Walmart's chairman.

Jim Walton runs Arvest Bank. Alice Walton founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

John Walton died in a plane crash in 2005.

Sam Walton died of bone cancer in April 1992 at age 74. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom shortly before his death.

Born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Grew up in Missouri.

Attended the University of Missouri, graduating with a degree in economics in 1940. He was student body president.

After college, he worked briefly at J.C. Penney as a management trainee before entering the Army during World War II.

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