Sam Walton

• America's bargain billionaire.
• sold things cheaper, and changed the way we shopped.
• never thought about anything, except building and growing Wal-Mart.
• largest fortune in America.
• Born on March 29, 1918
• Sam's Dad's job was to go evict people from farms
• Sam Walton was an active child, at age 3 he wandered out of his home and went down to the school and listened to the teacher for hours.
• 1933, the dustbowl struck.
• the family moved from town to town looking for work, and developed an outgoing personality from changing schools.
• Sam contributed to the family by selling milk to families.
• Sam joined the boy scouts and gained skills that made him the local hero.
• saved a person's life, and was promoted to Eagle scouts and became the youngest person to do so.
• Sam was vice president of the junior class, and played almost every sport and was very competitive.
• Fall 1936, entered university as an economist major.
• Sam went to work for full time after graduation, and was paid $75 a month along with commission.
• Was helped by JC Penny himself.
• Sam was eager to get into the army, but was put on the reserve list.
• Sam met Helen Robson, his future wife and married on Valentines Day, 1943.
• October 28, 1944 is when they had their first child.
• Sam buys Ben Franklin's Store Stock with $5000.
• found a way to beat his rivals at using a popcorn machine
• selling twice as much popcorn than the opponent across the street.
• within 3 years, he paid off the loan of his father in law.
• Sam almost gave up, and said he wanted to work for Sears
• the landlord was renewing Sam's lease and lost his store, but Sam shrugged it off and kept on going.
• Sam and his family moved to Bentonville and insisted on a 99-year lease.
• Sam had 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl.
• He was the head of the rotary club.
• eager to keep prices down and shopping traffic up.
• in just one year, sales tripled.
• Fayetteville Drug was his competition, and was right beside his store.
• by 1960, it was the largest retail store in America.
• bought a plane to make him visit any store at any time.
• Sam thought even lower prices could make even more money, so he brought in discount.
• went in for 95% of investment, and was in debt but Sam still went on with his plan.
• no one could take Sam seriously because they thought he would fail again.
• made a million dollars in sales in the first year.
• bought ownership on the bank.
• built 2 stores per year.
• wished he spent more time with his children.
• Sam tried to make it up to his family for his busy schedule by going on month-long trips such as camping.
• wanted to teach the stock market how a small country boy can make it big.
• by 1970, he opened 32 stores and profits were going through the roof.
• owed over $2 million dollars
• his strategy to control his debt was to expand.
• K-Mart was Wal-Mart's rival, and was 10 times as big.
• K-Mart and Sears didn't see Wal-Mart coming.
• many Wal-mart sales clerk earned not even minimum wage.
• 1972, Wal-Mart opened it's profit sharing plan.
• A truck driver for Wal-Mart retired and got a check for $7,000.
• 1978, Sam had 198 stores.
• 1983 Wal-Mart had the sales of $4 million dollars.
• Sam was 64 when he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.
• 1986, Hilary Clinton was elected as the first woman to work on Wal-Mart's headboard.
• Walton was accustomed to getting his way.
• 1984, Clinton called on Sam Walton to help with cheap goods overseas.
• the union was voted down.
• 1985, Sam Walton was named the richest man in the country.
• Sam Walton lost one and a half billion dollars on Black Monday, but was still by far the richest man in America.
• 1988, set up a Latin-American scholarship fund in Central America with his wife.
• 1990, was diagnosed with bone cancer.
• George Bush wanted to recognize Sam Walton on the certificate of freedom.
• April 5 1992, Sam Walton died.
• support education and health care charities in nearby cities.
• was in the right place at the right time.

Sam Walton was the most determined and most motivated business man and never gave up on his dream, even if he suffered and failed. His passion for business and succeeding in it helped him in the long run. His mentors, such as his wife, brother, and close friends JC Penney and Bill Clinton, all watched him grow in business and assisted him in anything he wanted to set his mind to.
When profits began to go through the roof, Sears and K-Mart didn't expect this at all, making him achieve his goals while defeating the rivals during the growth of Wal-Mart. As a key learning, Sam Walton was commited to his business and believed in it more than anything else. He loved his work, and did it with a passion. By thinking differently, Sam bought products and made them cheaper to make more money instead of making them the same price as other businesses had.