Courtesy of www.fastgraphs.com
Wal-Mart (WMT) is a company that needs no introduction. Reportedly 90% of the American population lives within 15 minutes of a store. Pair that with the idea that if WMT were a country its 2.2 million associates would rank it ahead of Slovenia in world population and its revenues would place it in the top 30 or so around the likes of Belgium or Argentina. Obviously: the company is massive.
Likewise, the Walton family is quite well known and, financially speaking, massive as well. Formed from a single store in Arkansas "Mr. Sam" Walton began to change the face of retail with his five and dime. Today, there are six Walton descendants that sit comfortably on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America. Last time I checked, their collective wealth topped $144 billion – which, incidentally, easily trumps the combined wealth of America's two richest Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
If you're trying to fathom that type of money, think of it like this: if transformed into $1 bills, that amount would require about 40 Olympic Swimming pools to hold it all.
