According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the Walton family earns $4 million (£3.3m) every hour from their Walmart empire. And that’s probably because more than 265 million people shop at Walmart every week. 

Despite its popularity it seems not everyone wants a Walmart nearby. When the company wanted to open a store in the US state of Vermont, the people didn’t want it. While Walmart got approval to build a store in 1993, the project was blocked after the Vermont Natural Resources Council protested. Twenty years later the company finally opened a shop. Today there are still only six stores in Vermont.  

Walmart has more than 2.2 million employees around the world. The only organization that comes close is the Chinese army, the People’s Liberation Army, with 2,035,000 active members. Of that 2.2 million-strong workforce around 800,000 of Walmart employees work in international stores. 

It seems as though Walmart really is the place for love. Psychology Today magazine published a study of "missed connection" posts on Craigslist, where love-struck hopefuls try to track down a stranger who caught their eye. The results found that Walmart is the most popular place to find love at first sight. Singles get shopping!

Walmart is reportedly the top solar customer in the US, having already installed more than 300 solar projects on store rooftops – which can provide as much as 30% of the power used by that facility. Walmart says it has already saved more than $5 million (£4m) on its energy bill. 

Despite this the family behind Walmart, the Waltons, are the wealthiest family in America and the fourth richest family in the world according to Forbes. The family includes Sam Walton’s children – Jim (left), Alice and Rob Walton and the family of their late brother John Walton – who died in a plane crash in 2005. It has been estimated that they’re collectively worth $196 billion (£160bn). 

Read more: The richest families in the world

The entire Walton clan appear in Forbes 2020 Billionaires List. Jim Walton, the youngest in the family, sits in 8th place and is worth $54.6 billion (£44.6bn). He sits on the Walmart board of directors and is the CEO of family-founded Arvest Bank.

Unlike her brothers, Alice hasn’t taken an active role in the company, instead focusing on collecting and curating art. Despite this she is still the second wealthiest sibling, sitting in 9th place on the Forbes Billionaires List with a net worth of $54.4 billion (£44.4bn). 

S. Robson Walton, commonly referred to as Rob Walton, is the eldest son. For 23 years Rob served as the chairman of the company, stepping down in 2015. He is in 10th place on the Forbes Billionaires List with a net worth of $54.1 billion (£44.2bn).  

Also on the list is 33-year-old Lukas Walton, in 44th place, worth $18.4 billion (£15bn). Lukas inherited one third of his late father John Walton’s fortune, which included stakes in Walmart and solar panel manufacturer First Solar. John’s window Christy Walton (pictured) got about a sixth, with Forbes estimating her net worth at $8.9 billion (£7.3bn). 

Now meet the Waltons, the family behind Walmart's staggering success

While other companies might have failed to make profit in challenging economic times, Walmart continues to grow. In the company's latest fiscal year total revenue was 1.9% higher than over the same period the year before, at a whopping $524 billion (£428bn). That number makes the company richer than many countries, including South Africa which has a GDP of $368.3 billion (£301bn), United Arab Emirates with a GDP of $414.2 billion (£338bn), and Norway with a GDP of $434.2 billion (£354.8bn). The chain also saw online sales grow 37%. 

The coronavirus pandemic has seen Walmart sell quantities of items in two to three hours that it would usually sell over two to three days. The company says sales in the three months to 30 April increased by 10% compared to the same period a year earlier as people panic bought while online sales were up by a huge 74%. The pandemic has seen Walmart's US stores alone hire 235,000 more employees to help deal with demand, while the UK's Asda supermarket chain has looked to increase its workforce by 5,000. In good times and bad, the world's biggest retailer looks set to hold onto its crown.

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