Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart Inc. operates hypermarkets (also known as supercenters), discount department stores, and supermarkets around the world. It was formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. . Arkansas. Sam Walton founded the company in 1962 near Rogers, Arkansas, and the company was incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969. A retail store chain is also run by the company.
As of January 31, 2022, Walmart has 10,593 stores and clubs in 24 countries operating under 48 different names. The Company operates as Walmart in the United States and Canada, Walmart de México and Central America in Mexico and Central America, and Flipkart Wholesale in India. It has wholly-owned operations in Chile, Canada, and South Africa. As of August 2018, Walmart only held a minority stake in Walmart Brasil, which was renamed Grupo Big in August 2019, with a 20% stake in the company, and private equity firm Advent International has an 80% stake in the company.
Walmart employs over 2 million people and is a family business. It is very popular to operate large discount stores that sell a variety of items, light furniture, toys, hardware, housewares, jewelry, groceries, sporting goods, gardening, automotive, electronics, home appliances, and more.
With $548.743 million in 2020, Walmart will be the most profitable company in the world, according to the Fortune GTA Portal 500. It is also the world’s largest private employer with 2.2 million employees. It is a publicly-traded family company as the company is controlled by the Walton family. Sam Walton’s estate, through his Walton Enterprises holding company and individual interests, owns more than 50% of Walmart. Walmart’s US sales of $510.329 million in 2019 were 65% captured by the retailer, making it the nation’s largest food retailer.