Walmart, which has today grown into the world’s largest supermarket chain, was established Sam Walton. It is owned by the Walton family, which has been ranked as the world’s richest family by Bloomberg.

The Walton family which owns Walmart, the world’s largest retail chain, has been named as the richest family on the planet, boasting a net worth of $432.4 billion, according to the’ World’s Richest Families 2024′ list by Bloomberg. For context, the combined wealth of the Walton family is more than that of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has a net worth of $416.8 billion, while Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, two of India’s wealthiest individuals, are also no match.

Who founded Walmart?

Walmart, which has today grown into the world’s largest supermarket chain, was established Sam Walton, who started it as as a small-time store selling salt and turmeric at discounted prices.

Born in a low-income household, Sam Walton began working from a very young age delivering milk and newspapers in his neighborhood. Later, Walton worked as a salesman at a retail store but was sacked by the manager after a short while. However, his brief stint at the store proved to be of immense help as he found out that there was a lot of profit to be gained in the salt and turmeric business.

Soon, Sam Walton founded Walmart with the idea of attracting customers by offering discounts. Walton understood that people prefer to buy things in bulk if offered on discount, and this strategy became Walmart’s biggest strength as it grew into a multinational supermarket chain.

World’s largest retail supermarket

From humble beginnings, Walmart has today grown into the world’s largest retail supermarket with an annual revenue of $648.1 billion, or about $473.2 million per day. This translates to the Walton family earning about $3,28,577 (around Rs 3 crore) per minute. Currently, Walmart has more than 10,600 stores across the globe.

Walmart, which is half-owned by two holding companies owned by the Walton family, is the world’s largest retailer and has been perched atop the Fortune 500 list for over a decade.

Sam Walton died in 1992, following which his children Jim Walton, Rob Walton and Alice Walton are managing Walmart. This family owns 46 percent of Walmart.