I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has fallen to 11th place in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as Walmart's Walton family members rise into the top 10. The Waltons, with a combined net worth of $465.8 billion, have benefited from a 20% increase in Walmart shares this year, while Huang has lost $8 billion due to concerns over AI costs affecting Nvidia's stock. Walmart's market cap surpassed $1 trillion, and the company is set to report fourth-quarter results soon. This marks a significant shift in billionaire rankings amid a broader rotation out of tech stocks.
[NEW YORK] A weeks-long hot streak for Walmart shares has vaulted three members of the founding Walton family into the ranks of the world’s 10 richest people, overtaking Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang, who dropped to 11th on Friday (Feb 13).
Jim, Rob and Alice Walton are now the world’s eighth, ninth and 10th wealthiest people with a combined net worth of US$465.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Their move up the ranks comes as a broader rotation out of tech stocks shakes up the billionaire ranks.
Huang, 62, has lost US$8 billion since late January as mounting anxiety over the costs and potential of artificial intelligence (AI) weigh on Nvidia’s shares. He has slipped three rungs on the index this week alone and is now at US$151.4 billion.
Meanwhile, Walmart’s shares have climbed 20 per cent this year as investors took a shine to its digital overhaul that has helped the retailer snatch market share and draw more online shoppers while maintaining its bargain prices.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has attracted wealthier households in recent years with its deals, fast delivery services and wide assortment of online products from pre-owned Chanel bags to collectibles. Its advertising, data analytics and other non-retail businesses are fuelling profit growth.
The company’s market cap crested US$1 trillion earlier this month – a first for a US retailer – and its gains have stood out amid the AI tumult that’s battered stocks deemed as both potential winners or losers from the technology.
Walmart, which is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Thursday, recently struck partnerships with Alphabet and OpenAI as it incorporates AI across operations.
A Walmart spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Waltons are the world’s richest family – their collective fortune topped US$500 billion for the first time late last year. Except for a single day amid the Covid chaos of March 2020, this is the first time all three of the siblings have been in the top 10 of Bloomberg’s wealth index. They own about 44 per cent of Walmart, which was founded by Rob, Jim and Alice’s father Sam Walton and his brother Bud in the 1960s.
Family members have roles on Walmart’s board, including Greg Penner, Rob Walton’s son-in-law who is chair, and Jim Walton’s son Steuart, but no Walton has led the company since Sam Walton stepped down as chief executive officer in 1988.
John Furner, a Walmart lifer who started as the new top boss in February, takes the baton from Doug McMillon, who is credited for transforming the brick-and-mortar retailer into a digital powerhouse.
Despite sharing a significant stake in the iconic retailer, the Waltons have generally pursued separate interests. Rob Walton, 81, his daughter Carrie Walton and her husband Penner own the Denver Broncos football team while Alice Walton, 76, founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Walmart’s company town.
The family is also behind hospitality investments that have transformed what was once a sleepy city to a trendy corner of fast-growing North-west Arkansas. BLOOMBERG