You may want to know who owns Walmart (WMT 1.61%) if you're thinking of investing or are just interested in finding out more about the company. For a brief background, Walmart is the largest retailer in the world by revenue, operating a chain of supercenters, department stores, and grocery stores.
Since its founding in 1962, Walmart has grown to over 10,000 stores in the U.S. and abroad. It's most famous for its prices, which are some of the lowest of any retailer, and for being the biggest family-owned business in the world. On that note, let's dive into who exactly owns Walmart and who's on its board of directors.
Who owns Walmart?
Who is the owner of Walmart?
Walmart is a publicly traded company that's owned by retail and institutional investors, but the Walton family holds the most shares. The Walton family collectively owns about 45% of the company. The vast majority of their stock is held through the Walton Enterprises holding company and the Walton Family Holdings Trust, and they also have individual holdings.
Walmart has been a family business from the very beginning and through its growth into one of the top consumer staples companies. Brothers Sam and James "Bud" Walton founded Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas -- not far from its current headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Older brother Sam served as chief executive officer (CEO) until 1988 and remained company chairman until his death in 1992. Bud, who died in 1995, was the senior vice president and director of Walmart.
The family stake is now split among seven heirs:
- Samuel Robson Walton
- Jim Walton
- Alice Walton
- Christy Walton
- Lukas Walton
- Nancy Walton Laurie
- Ann Walton Kroenke
To give you a quick breakdown of the family tree, Samuel Robson, Jim, and Alice Walton are children of Sam Walton. He had one other son, John T. Walton, who died in an ultralight plane crash in 2005. John T. Walton's wealth, including his ownership of Walmart, was transferred to his widow, Christy Walton, and their son, Lukas Walton.
Nancy Walton Laurie and Ann Walton Kroenke are children of James Walton. They have the smallest ownership of Walmart among the family ("smallest" being relative here; they're all still multibillionaires).
Largest shareholders
Who are the largest shareholders?
The largest shareholders of Walmart are institutional investors, specifically Walton Enterprises and the Walton Family Holdings Trust. You'll find the top-five largest individual shareholders and institutional shareholders below.
Individuals
Here are Walmart's largest individual shareholders:
- Jim Walton is the youngest son of Sam Walton and was previously on Walmart's board of directors. He owns 31,521,372 shares of Walmart, which is 0.39% of the company's outstanding shares.
- Alice Walton is the only daughter of Sam Walton and the richest woman in the world. She founded a now-shuttered investment bank, Llama Company, and chaired the Northwest Arkansas Council. She owns 20,245,740 shares of Walmart, which is 0.25% of the company's outstanding shares.
- Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton is the oldest son of Sam Walton and was Walmart's chairman from 1992 until 2015. He owns 7,029,557 shares of Walmart, which is 0.09% of the company's outstanding shares.
- Douglas McMillon has been president and CEO of Walmart since 2014. He owns 5,539,970 shares of Walmart, which is 0.07% of the company's outstanding shares.
- Gregory Penner has been the chairman of the board at Walmart since 2015. He's also the son-in-law of Samuel Robson Walton. Penner owns 1,699,750 shares of Walmart, which is 0.02% of the company's outstanding shares.
The number of shares held by Jim, Alice, and Rob Walton might seem low, considering the Walton family owns over half of Walmart. These are only the shares that each sibling has sole ownership of. They also share control of the holdings of Walton Enterprises and the Walton Family Holdings Trust.
Including those holdings, Jim Walton has sole or shared control of 3,638,184,467 Walmart shares. Alice Walton has sole or shared control of 3,626,908,835 Walmart shares, and Rob Walton has sole or shared control of 3,613,692,652 Walmart shares.
Shareholder
Institutional investors
Here are Walmart's largest institutional shareholders:
- Walton Enterprises is a holding company founded by Sam Walton in 1953. It owns 3,002,673,393 shares of Walmart, which is 37.53% of the company's outstanding shares.
- The Walton Family Holdings Trust is a trust established by Sam Walton in 1989. It owns 581,930,458 shares of Walmart, which is 7.27% of the company's outstanding shares.
- The Vanguard Group is an investment management company known for its low-cost mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It owns 412,539,774 shares of Walmart, which is 5.16% of the company's outstanding shares.
- BlackRock (BLK 0.22%) is the largest investment management company in the world. It owns 336,615,874 shares of Walmart, which is 4.20% of the company's outstanding shares.
- State Street Corp. (STT -0.76%) is an investment management company and custodian bank. It owns 184,300,475 shares of Walmart, which is 2.30% of the company's outstanding shares.
Combined, Walton Enterprises and the Walton Family Holdings Trust own about 45% of Walmart. The Big Three index fund managers round out the top five, as Walmart is a large holding in many of the major index funds. That's no surprise, since index funds are one of the easiest ways to invest money.
Board of Directors
Board of directors
Who is on the board of directors for Walmart?
Here's the current board of directors for Walmart:
- Gregory Penner joined the board in 2008 and took over the role of chairman in 2015, after his father-in-law, Samuel Robson Walton, stepped down. Penner is also CEO and co-owner of the Denver Broncos. He owns 1,448,634 shares of Walmart.
- Cesar Conde joined the board in 2019 and also serves on the board of directors for PepsiCo (PEP -0.33%). Conde is the chairman of NBCUniversal News Group. He owns 28,205 shares of Walmart.
- Timothy Flynn joined the board in 2012. He also serves on the boards of JPMorgan Chase (JPM -0.11%) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH 0.98%). He owns 151,105 shares of Walmart.
- Sarah Friar joined the board in 2018. She's the chief financial officer of artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI, and she also serves on the board of ConsenSys. She owns 55,609 shares of Walmart.
- Carla Harris joined the board in 2017. She's a senior client advisor for Morgan Stanley (MS -0.18%) and previously served as chair of the National Women's Business Council. She owns 47,121 shares of Walmart.
- Tom Horton joined the board in 2014. He previously served as chairman, president, and CEO of American Airlines (AAL 0.13%). He owns 55,565 shares of Walmart.
- Marissa Mayer joined the board in 2012. She's also co-founder and CEO of a technology startup, Sunshine Products, and she previously served as president, CEO, and a member of the board at Yahoo. She owns 125,780 shares of Walmart.
- Doug McMillon joined the board in 2013, a few months before becoming Walmart's president and CEO. He has worked at Walmart his entire career, starting as a summer associate while in high school, becoming a buyer after completing his MBA, and later progressing to senior leadership roles.
- Bob Moritz joined the board in 2024. He previously served as the global chair at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He owns 8,367 shares of Walmart.
- Brian Niccol joined the board in 2024. He's also the chairman and CEO at Starbucks (SBUX -0.02%), and he previously served as CEO of Chipotle (CMG 0.91%). He owns 6,180 shares of Walmart.
- Randall Stephenson joined the board in 2021. He previously served as executive chairman of the board at AT&T (T 1.31%). He owns 59,795 shares of Walmart.
- Steuart Walton joined the board in 2016. He's the son of Jim Walton, an attorney, and the founder and chairman of RZC Investments, an investment firm. He owns 75,697 shares of Walmart.
Related investing topics
How to invest
How to invest in Walmart
To invest in Walmart, log into your brokerage account and search for its ticker: WMT. Enter the number of shares you want to purchase and select a type of order (market, limit, etc.). When you're ready, submit the order.
Since Walmart is a publicly traded company, you can buy shares with just about any stock broker. Walmart is also a holding in quite a few mutual funds and ETFs. If you're looking for one that's heavily weighted toward Walmart, you could invest in a consumer staples ETF or a retail ETF. It all depends on whether you'd rather invest in stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds.
Walmart may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of family-owned businesses. But the Walton family has been the largest shareholder for decades, even as Walmart has gone from a few stores in Arkansas to one of the largest companies in the world.
FAQs
Who owns Walmart: FAQs
Who is the real owner of Walmart?
Walmart is a publicly traded family-owned business (the largest such business in the world), as the company is controlled by the Walton family. Sam Walton's heirs own about 45% of Walmart through both their holding company Walton Enterprises and their individual holdings.
Is Costco owned by Walmart?
No, Walmart doesn't own Costco. Costco is a separate company that's not affiliated with Walmart in any way.
Is Sam's Club owned by Walmart?
Yes, Walmart owns Sam's Club. Walmart founded Sam's Club, which was originally called Sam's Wholesale Club, in 1983. The warehouse club is named after Walmart founder Sam Walton.
Did the Walton family sell Walmart?
The Walton family has sold some of its company stock over the years. Even after selling some stock, they still collectively have majority ownership of Walmart and are the largest shareholders.
