Sam Walton

Sam Walton had a dream: to own his own department store. It was a

long and winding road to reach his goal, but he was committed, smart,

innovative and, above all, a hard worker. The result? The Wal-Mart

empire now has 9,000 stores in fifteen countries.

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Many people consider Sam Walton to be the smartest businessman in history. He was
certainly one of the most successful: starting from one store, he created the Wal-Mart
chain, the largest retail business in the world. He also invented the Price Club and Sam’s
Club chains of discount stores.
Before he died in 1992, Sam was the second-richest man in the world, behind only Bill
Gates!
His achievements are even more impressive when you know that Sam was born on a
small farm in Oklahoma and raised during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when
worldwide economic disaster created widespread unemployment and poverty.
For young Sam, it meant working before and after school to earn extra money for his
family, then working his way through university to pay for his tuition. He took every job
he could find, from waiting tables to delivering newspapers. In between, he served as a
military cadet leader, Sunday school volunteer, class president, and starting quarterback
of the football team!
Despite the huge extra demands on his time, Sam was a top student, earning a spot in the
U.S. National Honors Society. It’s not that he was smarter than everyone else; he just