The Llama Company was an investment bank founded by

Alice Walton Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart as daughter of founder Sam Walton. As of May 2025, Walton has a net worth of $117 billion, making her the richest woman in the world and 13th richest ...

as a subsidiary of

Walton Enterprises Walton Enterprises LLC (WEI) is an American investment holding company based in Bentonville, Arkansas that serves as a family office to manage the wealth of the Walton family, the owners of Walmart. Walton Enterprises is the largest shareholder ...

. It was headquartered in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

, and was founded in 1988, and was engaged in corporate finance, public and structured finance, real estate finance and sales and trading. Walton was President, Chairperson, and CEO of the company. The

Walton family The Walton family is an American family whose collective fortune derived from Walmart makes them the richest family in the United States, and, as of December 2024, the List of wealthiest families, richest family in the world. Overview The thr ...

also operates a commercial bank,

Arvest Bank Arvest Bank is a bank headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, with branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. It is the oldest bank in Arkansas and is on the list of largest banks in the United States. It is almost entirely owned by the ...

. Alice's ownership stake in Llama likely prevented her from having equity in Arvest. Although initially somewhat successful, the bank was closed in 1998 due to Walton's legal problems and economic uncertainty that also caused the failure of

Long-Term Capital Management Long-Term Capital Management L.P. (LTCM) was a highly leveraged hedge fund. In 1998, it received a $3.6 billion bailout from a group of 14 banks, in a deal brokered and put together by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. LTCM was founded in ...

, a hedge fund. Llama went defunct approximately one month after Walton resigned from her role as its chief executive. Upon closure, the bank employed roughly ninety people.

References

Banks established in 1988 Defunct financial services companies of the United States Banks disestablished in 1998 {{Bank-stub