Walmart's massive surge just added billions to the Walton family's wealth — here's how much you'd have made if you invested $1,000 back in the day (2024)
And an investor in the company decades ago would have made a very nice return on that bet.
According to Yahoo Finance, Walmart's split- and dividend-adjusted closing stock price on January 2, 1980 was a little over $0.05. As of 1:15 PM ET Thursday, Walmart was trading just shy of $99 per share, up nearly 10% on the day.
The chart below shows the value over time of a $1,000 investment made in Walmart at the start of 1980. As of Thursday afternoon, that investment would be worth over $1.9 million:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Yahoo Finanace
Walmart is surging after crushing earnings estimates Thursday morning, adding about $12 billion to the wealth of the Walton family. An investment of $1,000 at the start of 1980 would be worth over $1.9 million today.
The Waltons as a whole were worth an estimated $267 billion in mid-January, a Forbes ranking of America's richest families found. They were more than twice as wealthy as the Mars dynasty.
The Walton family owns about 45% of Walmart's outstanding shares through the trust and their main investment vehicle, Walton Enterprises, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Alice, Jim and Rob Walton have a combined fortune of $274 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Three Walmart heirs have more than doubled their money since 2016, adding more than $100 billion to their combined fortunes. Legendary founder Sam Walton's three surviving children — Rob, Jim, and Alice — all hold top-20 spots on the Forbes rich list with personal fortunes of between $70 billion and $77 billion.
It is a publicly traded family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family. Sam Walton's heirs own over 50 percent of Walmart through both their holding company Walton Enterprises and their individual holdings.
In 1950, the Walton family – Sam and Helen, sons, Rob, John, and Jim, and daughter Alice Walton – moved to Bentonville in northwest Arkansas from the eastern side of the state.
The Waltons are the richest family in America thanks to their stake in Walmart, the world's largest retailer by sales. An estimated 45% of Walmart's stock is held by the families of seven heirs of founders Sam Walton (d. 1992) and his brother Bud (d. 1995).
There are about 10,500 Walmart locations across 20 different countries. Jim Walton, Alice Walton, and Rob Walton are the top three individual shareholders of Walmart. Walmart's largest institutional investors include the John T. Walton Estate Trust, Vanguard Group, and BlackRock.
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