Samuel Robson “Rob” Walton (born October 28, 1944) is an American billionaire heir to the fortune of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, the world's largest retailer. He is the eldest son of Helen Walton and

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...

, and was chairman of Walmart from 1992 to 2015. As of October 2022, Walton had an estimated net worth of US$61 billion, making him the 18th richest person in the world. He is also the principal owner of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL)'s

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

Early life and family

Rob Walton was born on October 28, 1944, in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

,Rob Walton was born in 1944; Forbes listed his age as 66 in March 2011 and 67 in September 2011. the oldest of four children of

(1918–1992), cofounder of

, and Helen Walton (1919–2007). He has a younger brother,

Jim Walton James Carr Walton (born June 7, 1948) is an American businessman, currently the heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. As of October 2022, Walton was the seventeenth-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$61 b ...

, and a younger sister,

Alice Walton Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart. In September 2016, she owned over in Walmart shares. As of October 2022, Walton has a net worth of $59 billion, making her the 19th-richest person, and ...

. Another brother, John Walton, died in 2005. Walton attended

The College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Chu ...

and graduated from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkans ...

in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, where he was a member of the

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...

fraternity. He received his

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1969. Walton is also a trustee at The College of Wooster. After graduation, Walton became a member of the law firm that represented Walmart, Conner & Winters in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. In 1978, he left Tulsa to join Walmart as a senior vice president, and in 1982, he was appointed vice chairman. He was named chairman of the board of directors on April 7, 1992, two days after his father's death. Along with his siblings, he has pledged about $2 billion to the Walton Family Foundation from 2008 to 2013. On June 7, 2022, an ownership group led by Walton entered into an agreement to purchase the

from the estate of

Pat Bowlen Patrick Dennis Bowlen (February 18, 1944 – June 13, 2019) was a Canadian–American lawyer, executive and the majority owner of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL), winning three Super Bowls. He was inducted in the Pro F ...

for $4.65 billion, which set the record for the most expensive sale of a sports franchise in history, subject to approval from the NFL's finance committee and a 3/4 majority of the full NFL ownership group. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was announced as added to the ownership group on July 11, 2022. The family then announced on August 2, 2022, that

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...

would be added to the ownership group. Walton delegated most day-to-day authority to his son-in-law, Walmart chairman

Greg Penner Gregory Boyd Penner (born December 18, 1969) is an American businessman and venture capitalist. Penner is a co-owner and CEO of the Denver Broncos. Penner was named the chairman of Walmart in June 2015. He is the son-in-law of S. Robson Walton ...

, who took over as CEO of the franchise and the public face of the ownership group.

Personal life

By the time he left Tulsa in 1978, Walton had three children, was divorced from his first wife, and had remarried to Carolyn Funk. He and Carolyn filed for divorce in 2000. He married his third wife Melani Lowman-Walton in 2005.DV00-01797 - S. ROBSON WALTON VS. CAROLYN F. WALTON (DIVORCE - NO CHILDREN)
SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT STATE OF NEVADA, Washoe County. August 15, 2000. His children include

Carrie Walton Penner Carrie Walton Penner (born August 12, 1970) is the granddaughter of Sam Walton the founder of Walmart, and the daughter of former company chairman S. Robson Walton. Walton Penner is a powerful influence in the charter school movement. Early l ...

. In 2022, due to a decline in Wal-Mart's share price, Rob and his siblings lost more than $27 billion.Mitchell Van Homrigh
World’s richest family loses $27 billion
May 18, 2022

Car collection

Walton is a well-known collector of automobiles. His car collection is valued in excess of US$300 million and includes: *

Ferrari 250 GTO The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's ''Tipo 168/62'' Colombo V12 engine. The "250" in its name denotes the displa ...

s/n 5575GT * Ferrari 250 GTO s/n 3607 * Ferrari 250 SWB * Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder * Ferrari 250 LM * Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa * Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione Speciale * Ferrari 250 GT Zagato Berlinetta * Ferrari 575 GT Zagato *

McLaren F1 The McLaren F1 is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Cars, and powered by the BMW S70/2 V12 engine. The original concept was conceived by Gordon Murray. Murray was able to convince Ron Dennis to ...

#052, purchased from Lawrence Stroll. * Shelby Daytona chassis CSX2286 * 1963 Aston Martin DP215 Grand Touring Competition Prototype *

Ford GT40 The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car commissioned by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, which ...

MK1

References

External links

Official Wal-Mart biographyS. Robson Walton's campaign contributionsRob Walton Refuses to Answer on Company’s Record in Local Communities
- video report by ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, S. Robson 1944 births Living people American billionaires American car collectors American chairpersons of corporations American corporate directors American retail chief executives Businesspeople from Arkansas Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Columbia Law School alumni Directors of Walmart Oklahoma lawyers University of Arkansas alumni S. Robson Denver Broncos owners Denver Broncos personnel