Walmart founder's daughter is 15th richest person in the world

Alice Walton is the 15th richest person in the world, according to the Forbes International billionaire ranking. According to the magazine, the American businesswoman has a fortune valued at 86.1 billion euros.

Alice is the only daughter of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, and is the richest woman in the world. She and her siblings own about 46% of the company founded by their father.

Sam Walton was born in Oklahoma in 1918, served in the military in 1942, and opened his first store, Walton's 5&10, in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1950. The success of his first store led him to expand his reach, and in 1962 he opened the first Walmart, which was known for its “everyday low prices” strategy.

The supermarket was a huge success, as by 1967 the family already had 24 stores, which had a turnover of around 12.7 million dollars. In the early 1970s, the company became a publicly traded company, with its first share being sold for 16.50 dollars.

At the end of the year, the supermarket chain expanded its business and opened its first pharmacy, and the Walmart foundation was also created.

It was in the 1980s that the company reached the milestone of one billion dollars in annual sales and reached 276 stores. In 1991, the group expanded internationally and opened the first Sam's Club in Mexico City.

Sam Walton died in 1992, shortly after receiving the Medal of Freedom.

Alice worked at the company, mainly in the area of ​​children's clothing purchases, but ended up changing fields, focusing on art curation. Within this area, the businesswoman presided over the family's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for about a decade.

Over the past few years, Alice's focus has been on philanthropy, having invested more than $5.7 billion in five family charitable foundations that have distributed more than $1.1 billion in funds.