"Jim, Alice, and Rob Walton are the children of Sam Walton, who founded Wal-Mart; Christy Walton is his daughter-in-law.

Alice, Christy, and Rob are each worth $17.6bn, while Jim is worth $17.8bn; together, the clan are nearly as rich as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates (the top two on the list) combined. "

These 4 children, now with a net worth of nearly $90 billion dollars, are worth more than 120 million American's combined net worth.

Sam Walton began his conquest of the world in 1945, with a loan of $20,000 from his father-in-law and a small variety store in Newport, Arkansas, where he established the practices that define present-day Wal-Mart:

He kept prices as low as possible, stocked a wide range of goods, shipped American jobs to China, and stayed open longer than anyone else.

His margins were small, but he sold large quantities, which meant he could bargain for even lower prices from wholesalers - policies that still drive smaller local stores out of business. "

From the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/14/wal-mart-us-economy

Now his kids enjoy more wealth than a third of American workers combined. How much responsibility do the Walton's have in paying their share of taxes?

Some interesting facts and graphs that show where the income and wealth is distributed.

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

Table 1: Distribution of net worth and financial wealth in the United States, 1983-2007
Total Net Worth

Top 1 percent  Next 19 percent  Bottom 80 percent

1983      33.8%   47.5%   18.7%
1989      37.4%   46.2%   16.5%
1992      37.2%   46.6%   16.2%
1995      38.5%   45.4%   16.1%
1998      38.1%   45.3%   16.6%
2001      33.4%   51.0%   15.6%
2004      34.3%   50.3%   15.3%
2007      34.6%   50.5%   15.0%
 
Financial Wealth

Top 1 percent   Next 19 percent   Bottom 80 percent

1983        42.9%   48.4%   8.7%
1989        46.9%   46.5%   6.6%
1992        45.6%   46.7%   7.7%
1995        47.2%   45.9%   7.0%
1998        47.3%   43.6%   9.1%
2001        39.7%   51.5%   8.7%
2004       42.2%   50.3%   7.5%
2007       42.7%   50.3%   7.0%

See how well "trickle down..(or is that trickle on) economics" works....for the wealthy?

Wal-Mart family lobbies for tax cuts

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2005-04-05-waltons-usat_x.htm

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