Walton Heirs Give Little to Foundation, Walmart Critics Say

The children of Walmart founder Sam Walton have contributed almost none of their collective $140-billion fortune to the Walton Family Foundation, Forbes writes, citing a study by an advocacy organization critical of the retail giant’s labor practices.

The heirs and their family holding company have given the foundation $58.5-million, or 0.04 percent of their combined net worth, according to Walmart 1 Percent, a project of union-backed activist group Making Change at Walmart that reviewed 23 years of foundation tax returns.

The foundation, launched in 1988 by Sam Walton and his wife, Helen, has just under $2-billion in assets and has become a force in education reform and the charter-school movement. Almost all of its money comes from charitable lead annuity trusts, or CLATs, established with assets from Sam, Helen, and their late son John Walton or their estates.

Walmart 1 Percent notes that the Waltons may “make charitable contributions to entities other than the Walton Family Foundation” but said it “did not find evidence of major, sustained giving” by the family to other charities. A foundation representative said in a statement that “family members living and deceased have provided generously for the foundation. The family has planned for the continued growth of the foundation and intends for grant making to progressively increase over time.”