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Nine Billionaires with Arkansas Ties Make Forbes 500 List

2 min read

Nine billionaires with Arkansas ties find themselves on the most recent Forbes 500 list of the world’s richest people, released this week.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates, whose worth is estimated at $79.2 billion, tops a list which includes six members of the Walton family.

Also making the top 500 were Jerry Jones, who used to live in North Little Rock and now owns the Dallas Cowboys, and Fred Smith, the FedEx founder.

Here are the billionaires on the 2015 Forbes 500 with strong Arkansas ties:

  • No. 9: Christy Walton and family, net worth of $41.7 billion (up from $36.7 billion in 2014). Christy Walton, of Jackson, Wyoming, is the widow of John Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
  • No. 10: Jim Walton of Bentonville, youngest son of Sam Walton, $40.6 billion (up from $34.7 billion).
  • No. 11: Alice Walton of Millsap, Texas, daughter of Sam Walton and founder of Bentonville’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, $39.4 billion (up from $34.3 billion).
  • No. 12: S. Robson “Rob” Walton of Bentonville, oldest son of Sam Walton, $39.1 billion (up from $34.2 billion).
  • No. 225: Stanley Kroenke of Columbia, Missouri, husband of Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke and owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which includes the St. Louis Rams of the NFL, the Denver Nuggets of the NBA and the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, $6.3 billion (up from $5.6 billion).
  • No. 265: Ann Walton Kroenke of Columbia, Missouri, older daughter of Bud Walton, Sam Walton’s brother and early business partner, $5.6 billion (up from $4.8 billion).
  • No. 341: Nancy Walton Laurie of Henderson, Nevada, younger daughter of Bud Walton, $4.7 billion (up from $4.1 billion).
  • No. 393: Jerry Jones, Dallas, owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, $4.2 billion (not on the 2014 list).
  • No. 435: Fred Smith, founded what would become FedEx in Little Rock in 1971, $3.9 billion (not on the 2014 list).

Other Arkansas figures outside the top 500:

  • Investment banker Warren Stephens, ranked No. 628 with $2.9 billion.
  • Johnelle Hunt, co-founder of J.B. Hunt Transport Services of Lowell, ranked No. 810 with $2.3 billion.
  • John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods Inc., ranked No. 1,500 with $1.3 billion.

See the full list here

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