Christy Walton

• Real Time Net Worth As of 10/15/15
• $28.7 Billion
• Co-Chair, Children's Scholarship Fund

Age

66

Source Of Wealth

Wal-Mart

Self-Made Score

1

Residence

Jackson, WY

Citizenship

United States

Marital Status

Widowed

Children

1

Christy Walton married into what became the richest family in the world -- the Waltons, owners of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. She inherited her fortune when her husband John Walton, a former Green Beret and Vietnam war medic, died in an airplane crash in 2005. She also owns a stake in solar panel maker First Solar that in mid-September 2015 was worth about $1.3 billion. The bulk of her holdings are in Wal-Mart, which her father-in-law Sam Walton and his brother James founded in 1962. Forbes estimates that Christy owns an 11% stake in the company, lower than previous estimates as a result of new public filings by Wal-Mart. She leads a very private life in Jackson, Wyoming, but in 2013 had a rare bit of publicity when she was given an award by the Imagen Foundation for producing the film "Bless Me, Ultima," based on the book by Rudolfo Anaya, who is considered the father of Chicano literature. Her son battled cancer when he was just three years old and she fought a case of pneumonia that nearly killed her, according to the Imagen Foundation.