Jim Walton is the largest shareholder of Walmart (WMT 1.29%). According to the company's latest proxy statement, the third child of company co-founder Sam Walton currently owns 31,521,372 shares worth around $2.1 billion.
But this figure doesn't represent his total ownership over the company. A little digging is required to uncover the size of his true Walmart stake, as well as the identities of Walmart's other major shareholders.
These three people are Walmart's biggest shareholders by a country mile
The shares listed above for Jim Walton are simply the ones he has sole voting power over. Most of his stake is actually tied up in Walton Enterprises LLC and the Walton Family Holdings Trust, which collectively own roughly 3.7 billion shares worth around $240 billion. He shares control of these shares with his siblings Alice and Rob Walton.
In total, Jim Walton has sole or shared voting power over 3,686,239,026 Walmart shares. That equates to 45.74% of the entire share count. His sister, Alice, has voting influence over 3,674,963,394 shares. His brother Rob has voting influence over 3,661,747,013. However, it should be noted that these combined figures include the shared voting power of 3,002,673,393 shares held by Walton Enterprises LLC, and 652,044,261 shares held by the Walton Family Holdings Trust.
Who owns the most Walmart stock besides the Walton family? That would be The Vanguard Group, which collectively holds around 400 million shares on behalf of its clients -- roughly 5% of the total share count.
