Lukas Tyler Walton (born September 19, 1986) is an American billionaire heir. He is the grandson of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Walton is the only child of John T. Walton, the second son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Lukas was the biggest beneficiary of his father’s will and he’s calculated to have received a stake now equal to about 3.8% of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer. His mother, Christy, inherited a 2% stake after John Walton died in 2005.
Walton’s fortune is derived from his inheritance of shares in Walmart, the world’s largest retailer.
The shares are controlled through the Walton Family Holdings Trust as well as Walton Enterprises, a family holding company. He’s credited with a third of the shares — 3.9% of Walmart — that were in the estate of his late father, John T. Walton. The stake is based on an assumption that Walmart co-founder Sam Walton, the billionaire’s grandfather, split the shares he owned equally among his four children.
The analysis is based on Wyoming court documents that were unsealed in 2015, a decade after his father’s death. Half of that estate was placed in charitable trusts. His mother, Christy, inherited the rest. Share information is based on regulatory filings. The unsealed court documents include the couple’s 1982 premarital agreement, asset values at the time of Walton’s marriage and death, and a declaration of how he wanted the inheritance to be split. They show that Lukas is the sole beneficiary of any remaining principal in five of the estate’s charitable trusts. Tax returns for them indicate investment performance exceeds the amount they spend on charitable giving. The trusts expire in 2036. Walton isn’t credited with them because he can’t access the funds until then.
He owns 8% of family-owned Arvest Bank. Arvest is valued using the average price-to-book value multiple of two publicly traded banks: Fifth Third Bancorp and UMB Financial.
He’s collected more than $5 billion from dividends and share sales, based on an analysis of Bloomberg data. Cash investments reflects these proceeds, as well as taxes, market performance and philanthropic giving.
Randy Hargrove, a spokesman for the Walton family, declined to comment on the net worth calculation.
Early life and career
Lukas Walton is the only child of John T. Walton (1946–2005) and his wife Christy Walton. He grew up in National City, California, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. His father, John T. Walton, died in a plane crash in 2005. Following his father’s death, he moved with his mother to Jackson, Wyoming.
When he was three years old, Walton was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer, and his mother attributed his recovery to a plant-based remedy from her garden.
He has a bachelor’s degree in environmentally sustainable business from Colorado College, where he graduated in 2010.
He went on to work at True North Venture Partners
Philanthropy
Walton works for the Walton Family Foundation. He is the environment program committee chair for the Walton Family Foundation
Politics
In 2020, Walton gave $5,600 to the Biden campaign and $142,000 to the Democratic National Committee
Personal life
Lukas Walton was born to Christy and John Walton in 1986. He is the only son the late John T. Walton, the second son born to Walmart founder Sam Walton. A Green Beret veteran who was awarded the Silver Star after serving in the Vietnam War, John died in 2005 when he crashed his ultralight aircraft in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Lukas survived cancer as a young child. He went to Journeys School in Jackson, Wyoming and graduated from Colorado College with a bachelor’s degree in 2010.
Before John’s death, his parents purchased a Victorian house in National Park, California, which Christy gave to charity in 2006. She also listed their Wyoming home for $12.5 million seven years later.
Lukas interned at True North Venture Partners, the venture capital firm founded by his father, according to a commencement address he gave at his high school in 2011.
As of 2022, Lukas Walton is ranked 106th in the Forbes annual list of the world’s billionaires.
He lives in Jackson, Wyoming and Chicago. As of September 2020, he was listed as the richest person in the state of Illinois.
He is married to Samantha Walton, who is listed as the co-president with Lukas Walton in the Builders Initiative, which is a Walton family foundation
Milestones
- 1985 Parents John and Christy Walton purchase house in National Park, California.
- 1986 Lukas Walton is born to John and Christy Walton.
- 1999 Family moves from San Diego to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- 2005 Father John Walton dies in an airplane crash in Jackson Hole.
- 2006 Mother donates Victorian house in National Park, California to charity.
- 2010 Graduates from Colorado College.
- 2013 Mother Christy lists 2.5-acre estate in Wyoming for $12.5 million.
- 2015 Wyoming judge unseals court filings pertaining to father’s estate.
