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  • Walmart Heir Rob Walton Donates $115M to ASU to Establish Conservation School

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    Rob Walton served as Walmart’s chairman for more than two decades. Photo by Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images

    Rob Walton, son of Walmart founder Sam Walton and the former chairman of the retail giant, is donating $115 million to Arizona State University (ASU), the largest donation in the institution’s 140-year history. The funds will support a new school dedicated to conservation and offering training, educational and career opportunities. “Students bring fresh ideas, energy and innovation,” said Walton in a statement. “By getting involved now—through research, advocacy or fieldwork—they gain the skills to drive real change.”

    The donation will establish the Rob Walton School of Conservation Future within ASU’s newly renamed Rob Walton College of Global Futures. Walton’s gift will also fund the school’s chair, create three professorships in research and education, and launch a scholarship fund.

    Set to open by the end of the year, the school will provide conservation training programs for high school students, workers and executives, issue certificates for organizations and government agencies, and expand workforce opportunities in the field. Over time, it will add graduate and undergraduate degree programs.

    “Through its central mission of transforming conservation education for a thriving planetary future, this new academic entity is not just preserving ecosystems—it is developing adaptive solutions to ensure sustainable pathways for future generations,” said Peter Schlosser, vice president of ASU’s Global Futures College, in a statement.

    The Walton family’s philanthropic legacy

    Walton, 80, has an estimated net worth of $123.1 billion. He served as chairman of the Arkansas-based retailer from 1992 to 2015, during which he pursued corporate conservation strategies, including working with Conservation International on sustainability goals such as reducing waste across Walmart’s global operations.

    This isn’t Walton’s first conservation-related gift to ASU. In 2012, Walton and his wife, Melani, donated $27.5 million to advance sustainability initiatives, a figure that grew to $31.8 million by 2019. ASU later named a planetary health facility in their honor.

    Walton’s philanthropy is part of a broader family tradition. The Walton family, the wealthiest in America, channels much of its giving through the Walton Family Foundation, created by Sam Walton in the 1980s. The foundation focuses on education, environmental programs and regional development in Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta, distributing nearly $550 million in grants last year.

    His siblings, both also centibillionaires, have made major philanthropic moves as well. Jim Walton made headlines in 2019 with a $1.2 billion Walmart stock donation, the largest gift of that year. Alice Walton has given more than $1.5 billion to the arts and founded institutions such as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

    Walmart Heir Rob Walton Donates $115M to ASU to Establish Conservation School

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    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Alice Walton is the world’s richest woman — and may soon be worth $100 billion

    Alice Walton is the world’s richest woman — and may soon be worth $100 billion

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    • Alice Walton has overtaken Françoise Bettencourt Meyers as the world’s richest woman this year.

    • The Walmart and L’Oréal heiresses are worth $95 billion and $91 billion respectively, per Bloomberg.

    • Walton is close to passing the $100 billion mark and joining the elite club of centibillionaires.

    The heiress to the Walmart fortune has leapfrogged the L’Oréal heiress to become the world’s richest woman — and could soon cross $100 billion in net worth.

    Alice Walton, daughter of retail icon Sam Walton, is worth more than $95 billion for the first time, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s due to Walmart’s stock price soaring 44% to a record high this year, which has fueled a $25 billion jump in her net worth over the same period.

    In contrast, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers — the granddaughter of Eugène Schueller, who founded the French cosmetics giant — has seen her wealth shrink by $9 billion this year to $91 billion. That reflects a 12% decline in L’Oréal shares since January.

    It was a different story at the end of last year, when Bettencourt-Meyers was worth $100 billion and Walton was worth only $70 billion.

    Bettencourt Meyers ranks 20th on Bloomberg’s rich list while Walton sits at 18th, just behind her two brothers, Jim ($98 billion) and Rob ($95.8 billion). The siblings each own more than 11% of Walmart, assuming their father evenly divided his shares in the company between his four children. They’ve also garnered more than $15 billion from stock sales and dividends over the years, Bloomberg estimates.

    Francoise Bettencourt Meyers sits on a chair in an outdoor garden

    Françoise Bettencourt Meyers in 2010.MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images

    Meanwhile, Bettencourt Meyers has about 35% of the world’s largest cosmetics company, which owns brands including Garnier and Maybelline. She inherited the stake from her mother, Liliane, who died in 2017.

    If Walton’s wealth continues rising and breaches the $100 billion mark, she’ll join an elite club of centibillionaires that includes Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett.

    Walton and Bettencourt Meyers are two of several heiresses near the top of Bloomberg’s list, including Jacqueline Badger Mars and Abigail Johnson, whose grandfathers founded Mars and Fidelity respectively.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

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