- Jim Walton's net worth just passed $100 billion for the first time.
- The Walmart heir's wealth has surged by $28 billion this year due to the retailer's soaring stock.
Jim Walton is the newest member of the $100 billion club.
The Walmart heir's personal fortune reached 12 digits for the first time on Wednesday, ranking him 13th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He's now joined an elite group of centibillionaires that includes Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett.
According to Bloomberg's rich list, only 15 people on the planet have a $100 billion-plus net worth. Jim's siblings, Rob and Alice, rank 16th and 17th with net worths of $98.3 billion and $97.7 billion each, meaning they'll likely join him soon.
Jim's fortune has swelled by about $28 billion this year to $101 billion, fueled by a 50% rise in Walmart stock to a record high. The three Waltons have also received over $15 billion each from stock sales and dividends over the years, per Bloomberg.
The likes of Musk, Bezos, and now Jim Walton command $100 billion-plus net worths because they own vast amounts of stock in some of the world's most valuable companies.
Walmart founder Sam Walton shrewdly gave 20% of his future retail empire to each of his four children over 70 years ago, in 1953. By organizing his business as a family partnership and giving his kids their stakes when he only owned a couple of stores, instead of handing down his wealth after he died a billionaire in 1992, he saved them a fortune in estate taxes.
Jim, 76, has led several of Walmart's businesses over the years, including a bank and a community newspaper. After his brother, John T., died in 2005, Jim replaced him on Walmart's board and remained a director until he retired in 2016.
The late John T. left the bulk of his fortune to his son Lukas, now the world's 45th wealthiest person with a $34.9 billion net worth, and wife Christy, the 128th richest with $15.7 billion.
The five wealthiest Waltons are together worth nearly $350 billion — a figure that dwarfs Coca-Cola's market value of $306 billion.
Walmart has grown from a single five-and-dime store in Bentonville, Arkansas, into a retail behemoth that generates $600 billion in net sales a year, employs 1.6 million Americans or roughly 1% of the US workforce, and ranks among the world's largest companies with a market value of $634 billion.
The corporate titan has benefited from resilient consumer spending during a period of historic inflation and surging interest rates. Its stock has jumped this year as investors bet on prices to stabilize, rates to fall, and the US economy to escape a recession.