The Richest Women in the World 2015
Kerry A. Dolan Forbes Staff Leadership
Christy Walton
Net worth: $39.1 billion
Age: 60
Source Of Wealth: Wal-Mart
Residence: Jackson, WY
Citizenship: United States
Marital Status: Widowed
Children: 1
Age: 60
Source Of Wealth: Wal-Mart
Residence: Jackson, WY
Citizenship: United States
Marital Status: Widowed
Children: 1
Christy Walton is the wealthiest woman in the world, a title she has held for 5 out of the past six years. She married into what became the richest family in the world — the Waltons — and inherited her wealth when her husband John Walton, a former Green Beret and Vietnam war medic, died in an airplane crash in 2005. She’s the wealthiest of the Waltons thanks to an investment John made in solar panel maker First Solar. The bulk of her holdings are in Wal-Mart, the huge retailer founded by her father-in-law Sam Walton and his brother James in 1962.She leads a very private life in Jackson, Wyoming, but in 2013 had a rare bit of publicity when she was given an award by the Imagen Foundation for producing the film “Bless Me, Ultima,” based on the book by Rudolfo Anaya, who is considered the father of Chicano literature.
