Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton (born October 27, 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 in the United States and 23 other ...

, 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 Co-founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in Rogers, Arkansas, and Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1962 and 1983 res ...

, and was chairman of Walmart from 1992 to 2015. As of May 2025,

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estimated his net worth to be US$115.3 billion, making him the 13th richest person in the world. He is also the principal owner of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Early life and family

Rob Walton was born on October 27, 1944, in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, 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 an heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. As of May 2025, Walton is the 12th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$114.1 billion acc ...

, and a younger sister, Alice Walton. Another brother, John Walton, died in 2005. Walton attended

The College of Wooster {{Infobox university , image = College of Wooster seal.png , image_upright = .6 , name = The College of Wooster , former_names = University of Wooster (1866–1915) , motto ...

and graduated from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

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 referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...

fraternity. He received his

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

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, Oklahoma. 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 an 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 Football Hall ...

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 who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

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 who is the chairman of Walmart and co-owner and CEO of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He is the son-in-law of S. Robson Walton and the grandson-i ...

, 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. Walton is a well-known collector of automobiles.

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 TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, S. Robson 1944 births Living people American billionaires American car collectors American chairpersons of corporations 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