Walmart (WMT) is one of the largest discount and superstore retailers in the world. The company was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton in Arkansas and offers a wide variety of merchandise through its traditional brick-and-mortar retail outlets as well as its growing e-commerce business.
Walmart sells a dizzying breadth of items, including apparel, housewares, small appliances, electronics, musical instruments, books, home improvement, shoes, jewelry, pharmaceutical products, automotive tools, groceries, and more. The retailer operates approximately 10,500 stores in 20 countries.
The top Walmart shareholders are Jim C. Walton, Alice L. Walton, S. Robson Walton, the John T. Walton Estate Trust, Vanguard Group, and BlackRock.
The company's 12-month trailing net income and revenue are $27.6 billion and $657.3 billion respectively as of July 2024. The company'smarket capitalizationis about $559.30 billion.
Key Takeaways
- Walmart is one of the largest retailers in the world.
- The company was established by Sam Walton in 1962.
- There are about 10,500 Walmart locations across 20 countries.
- Jim Walton, Alice Walton, and Rob Walton are the top three individual shareholders of Walmart.
- Walmart's largest institutional investors include the John T. Walton Estate Trust, Vanguard Group, and BlackRock.
Top 3 Individual Insider Shareholders
This information only addresses direct ownership. It doesn't include indirect ownership of shares or shares accessible through stock options.
Jim C. Walton
Jim C. Walton is the youngest son of Sam Walton. He had a seat on Walmart's board of directors for more than 10 years until he gave up that seat in 2016 to his son Steuart who chairs Walmart's technology and e-commerce unit.
Jim Walton is the chairman of Arvest Bank which is owned by the Walton family. The bank is the oldest in Arkansas and among the largest in the country. It provides consumers with everyday banking services, loans, mortgages, and investment services. Arvest has more than $26 billion in assets.
Jim Walton owned about 3.686 billion shares in the company as of April 2024.
Alice L. Walton
Alice L. Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. She's also one of the richest women in the United States with a net worth of $72.5 billion. She owned 3.674 billion shares in the company as of April 2024.
She doesn't work for the company her father started, unlike her siblings. Alice Walton serves as chair of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art which she established in Bentonville, Arkansas in 2005. The organization has works from notable artists including Andy Warhol.
She did spend some time as a buyer of children's clothing for Walmart after graduating from Trinity College in the early 1970s, however.
An insider refers to someone in a senior management position, a member of the board of directors, as well as people or entities who own more than 10% of the company's stock. It has nothing to do with insider trading in this context.
S. Robson Walton
S. Robson (Rob) Walton is the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton and first joined the company in 1969, seven years after it was founded. He was chair of Walmart's board of directors for 23 years from 1992 to 2015, a period during which Walmart grew from a small chain into one of the world's biggest retailers.
He served in various roles before taking the chair's role, including senior vice president, corporate secretary, general counsel, and vice chair. A trained lawyer, he was a partner at Conner & Winters in Tulsa, Oklahoma before joining Walmart. He retired from the board in June 2024.
Walton owned over 3.661 billion shares in Walmart in April 2024. His net worth is $77.5 billion, according to Forbes.
Neither Jim Walton nor Alice Walton are directors of the company.
Top 3 Institutional Shareholders
Institutional investors hold about 35% of Walmart's total shares outstanding which is a relatively small share compared to institutional holdings of other large-cap stocks. This relatively small share can be explained by the fact that the Walton family holds the majority of the company's total shares outstanding at about 46.51%.
John T. Walton Estate Trust
The John T. Walton Estate Trust owns more than three billion shares in the company, according to the company's Schedule 14A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2024. The business address is a P.O. box in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Jim, Alice, and Rob Walton are cotrustees for the trust. These three individuals collectively have the power to either sell and/or vote on those shares. The Walton children are also managing members of Walton Enterprises, the private holding company through which the Walton family manages their ownership interests in Walmart.
Vanguard Group
Vanguard Group is primarily a mutual fund and exchange-traded funds (ETF) management company with about $7.8 trillion in global assets under management (AUM) as of September 30, 2023. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) is one of its largest ETFs with about $1.1 trillion in AUM. Walmart represented 58 % of VOO's holdings as of February 2024.
Vanguard owned roughly 412.5 million shares of Walmart as of April 2024. This represents about 5.12% of the total shares outstanding.
BlackRock
BlackRock provides a variety of services to investors and institutions including investment, advisory, and risk management. The company was established in 1988 and has grown, expanding its presence in 36 countries.
Investors may know BlackRock because of its mutual funds and iShares ETFs. These products provide investors with access to the equity, fixed-income, and commodity markets. It's one of the largest investment management firms in the world with more than $10 trillion in AUM as of Dec. 31, 2023.
BlackRock had about 293.91 million Walmart shares as of March 2024, about 3.65% of the total shares outstanding.
Diversity and Inclusiveness of Walmart
We offer investors a glimpse into the transparency of more than just who are the shareholders at Walmart as part of our effort to improve the awareness of the importance of diversity in companies. We highlight the company's commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and social responsibility as a whole. Find out how Walmart reports the diversity of its management and workforce.
The ✔ shows whether Walmart discloses its data about the diversity of its board of directors, C-Suite, general management, and employees overall across a variety of markets.
| Walmart Diversity & Inclusiveness Reporting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Gender | Ability | Veteran Status | Sexual Orientation | |
| Board of Directors | |||||
| C-Suite | |||||
| General Management | ✔ (U.S. Only) | ✔ (U.S. Only) | |||
| Employees | ✔ (U.S. Only) | ✔ (U.S. Only) | |||
What Is Walmart+?
Walmart+ is a paid membership subscription. It provides free delivery of purchases with no order minimum, early access to sales and deals, and video streaming with Paramount. It will set you back about $98 plus tax a year as of July 2024 or you can pay $12.95 a month instead.
How Many Employees Does Walmart Have?
Walmart indicated in its 2024 annual report that it employs about 2.1 million associates around the world.
What Is Walmart's Share Price?
Walmart was trading at $69.36 on July 30, 2024. That's up from $53.55 one year ago at the close of July 2023.
The Bottom Line
Walmart has established itself as one of the largest retailers in the world since it was first established by Sam Walton in 1962. It offers traditional retail outlets as well as a thriving e-commerce platform. Its top individual shareholders are all family members: Jim, Alice, and Rob Walton. The John T. Walton Estate Trust is Walmart’s top institutional investor, edging out Vanguard and BlackRock.
The company's 12-month trailing net income and revenue are $27.6 billion and $657.3 billion respectively as of July 2024.
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