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Forbes List of Richest People for 2015 Includes 10 with Arkansas Ties

2 min read

The 2015 Forbes 400 list of the country’s richest people includes 10 with close Arkansas ties and one Arkansan in the top 10.

The list once again is led by Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Forbes estimates his net worth at $76 billion. Wal-Mart heir and Arvest Bank Chairman and CEO Jim Walton leads a group of Arkansans and those with close ties to the state included on the list.

That group is dominated by Waltons:

  • Forbes No. 9Jim Walton, 67, Bentonville, estimated worth $33.7 billion. The son of Sam Walton, Walton is the chairman and CEO of the Walton family’s Arvest Bank.
  • Forbes No. 12Alice Walton, 65, Fort Worth, Texas, estimated worth $32 billion. Daughter of Sam Walton and founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
  • Forbes No. 13Rob Walton, 70, Bentonville, estimated worth $31.7 billion. Son of Sam Walton and former Wal-Mart chair.
  • Forbes No. 14Christy Walton, 66, Jackson, Wyoming, estimated worth $30.2 billion. Walton is the wife of the late John Walton, son of Wal-Mart co-founder Sam Walton.
  • Forbes No. 94Jerry Jones, 72, Dallas, estimated worth $5 billion. Jones was raised in North Little Rock and was a member of the 1964 University of Arkansas national championship football team. He made his money in oil and gas before purchasing the Dallas Cowboys, now worth an estimated $4 billion, in 1989.
  • Forbes No. 121Ann Walton Kroenke, 66, Columbia, Missouri, estimated worth $4.5 billion. Kroenke is the daughter of Wal-Mart co-founder Bud Walton and is married to Stanley Kroenke, who owns several professional sports teams including the St. Louis Rams and is No. 63 on the list with an estimated worth of $7.6 billion.
  • Forbes No. 138Nancy Walton Laurie, 64, Henderson, Nevada, estimated worth $4 billion. Daughter of Bud Walton and, with husband Bill, a former owner of the St. Louis Blues hockey team.
  • Forbes No. 171Fred Smith, 71, Memphis, estimated worth $3.5 billion. In 1971, Smith turned Ark Aviation Sales of Little Rock into FedEx and moved his operation to Memphis.
  • Forbes No. 268Warren Stephens, 58, Little Rock, estimated worth $2.5 billion. Stephens owns Little Rock investment firm Stephens Inc., and its interests, and founded the ultra-exclusive and critically acclaimed The Alotian golf club on Highway 10 just west of Little Rock.
  • Forbes No. 307Johnelle Hunt, 83, Fayetteville, estimated worth $2.2 billion. With her late husband Johnnie, Hunt founded Lowell’s J.B. Hunt trucking company and grew it into one of the largest of its kind in the U.S.

See the full list here.

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