Jim Walton and his family are ranked No. 12 on the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list with a net worth of $143 billion. The youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, he is chairman of Arvest Bank.
James Carr “Jim” Walton was born on June 7, 1948, in Newport, Arkansas, the third child of Sam and Helen Walton. He graduated from Bentonville High School in 1965, where he was president of his junior class and played football at all-state level.
Net Worth and Rank
- Forbes 2026 list: No. 12, with $143 billion, listed as “Jim Walton & family”
- Source of wealth: Walmart shares; in September 2016 he was reported to own over 152 million of them
Career
- Education: a bachelor’s degree in business administration (marketing) from the University of Arkansas in 1971
- 1972: joined Walmart and worked on its real-estate deals
- 1975: moved to the family firm Walton Enterprises as president
- 2005: on September 28 he replaced his late brother John on Walmart’s board of directors
- Arvest Bank: he was its CEO and is now chairman; he also chairs the newspaper company Community Publishers Inc.
Giving and Politics
With his siblings he pledged about $2 billion to the Walton Family Foundation from 2008 to 2013. He has donated to Republican candidates, including support for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. In 2024 he gave $500,000 to a group opposing a proposed Arkansas education amendment on school vouchers.
Why It Matters
Jim Walton is one of three siblings who each hold a multibillion-dollar share of Walmart, and his Arvest Bank is a large regional lender in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
Net worth figures change daily with share prices. Rankings here follow the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list, with wealth measured on March 1, 2026.
Image: Jim Walton (right) and his sister Alice Walton at Walmart’s shareholders meeting in June 2011. Photo: Walmart / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
