In Bentonville, the Walton family modeled their Arkansas castle with millions of dollars

Beginning September 2021, it tops the magazine’s annual list of 400 billionaires Forbes, Were “Regular Suspects” : Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Elon Musk (Tesla), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Bill Gates (Microsoft) … then, from eleventh place, “regular strangers”: Jim Walton, Alice Walton and Rob Walton, Septuagen Assets worth billions of dollars (60 billion euros). Going down in the rankings, three more Waltons – Lucas, Nancy, Christie – total $ 34 billion. Additions are being made quickly: In September 2021, the Walton family was richer in the United States, with $ 238 billion more assets than Jeff Bezos ($ 200 billion).

Strangers in Europe, not across the Atlantic. Like Walton … Walmart: Jim, Alice and Rob are the children of Sam Walton (1918-1992), founder of Walmart supermarkets, which was formed in 1962 in the small town of Bentonville, deep in Arkansas. From this area of ​​the Osorks on the border of Missouri and Oklahoma, Sam Walton and his heirs captured the United States and later the planet: with his 2.3 million employees worldwide, Walmart is the largest privately owned 11,000 stores in the United States, including 4,600. In the United States and in the world.

Opposition against Amazon

After all, the multinational company has been organizing protests against Amazon, with some success, its number surpassing the world leader in internet sales ($ 570 billion against the expected $ 470 billion revenue for Amazon in 2021) and it has shown excellent results. Than expected. The company also gained the wealth of the Waltons, who still own 40% of the $ 400 billion stake in the company, especially since their father sold them titles worth less and paid the minimum inheritance tax.

The story begins in Bentonville, Arkansas, for which there is a direct flight from New York. Upon arrival, everything is Walton, everything Walmart: In the airport lobby, the University of Arkansas advertises an MBA (Master of Business Administration) named after Walton; On the road to the airport, immediately, are three huge Walmart warehouses; Boulevard is called Samuel-Walton. In the heart of the city, in the beautiful Sunny Square, is the Walmart Museum, to the glory of the founder.

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