Walton vs Gates

Walmart and Microsoft.

The differences

Forbes puts Alice Walton about $5.3B ahead of Bill Gates.Forbes figures from 12 Oct 2026 and 15 Oct 2026.
Alice Walton: inherited it. Bill Gates: co-founded it.
Alice Walton is about 6 years older than Bill Gates.
Bill Gates has signed the Giving Pledge; Alice Walton has not.
Alice Walton has held a public or government advisory role; Bill Gates has none on record.

Put someone else on either side

Walton

Gates

Net worth, Forbes: $123BForbes, 12 Oct 2026; $118BForbes, 15 Oct 2026
Net worth, Bloomberg: $137BBloomberg, 9 Oct 2026; $119BBloomberg, 16 Oct 2026
Forbes rank: No. 15Real-Time list, 30 Sep 2026; No. 17Real-Time list, 15 Oct 2026
Billionaire since: Not stated; 1987Forbes first listed him as a billionaire in 1987

How it started: Inherited itOnly daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton; Bloomberg calls her an heir to the fortune he created in Walmart; Co-founded itCo-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975
Main source: Walmart stock held mostly through the Walton Family Holdings Trust and Walton EnterprisesBloomberg: 'The majority of Alice Walton's fortune is derived from Walmart'; Cascade Investment, built from Microsoft stock sales and dividendsBloomberg: 'The majority of Bill Gates' fortune is derived from Cascade Investment'
Companies: WalmartWalmart: None; trustee of family holding entities; MicrosoftMicrosoft: Co-founder; technology advisor to the CEO
Biggest stake: WalmartStake not stated; Microsoft1% owned

Born: 7 Oct 1949Newport, Arkansas, United States; 28 Oct 1955Seattle, Washington, United States
Country: United StatesLives in Fort Worth, Texas, United States; United StatesLives in Medina, Washington, United States
Education: Bachelor's degreeBA in economics, Trinity University; Left university without a degreeHarvard University, left without a degree (honorary degree in 2007)
Parents: Daughter of Sam and Helen Walton, who ran a five-and-dime store before Sam opened the first Walmart in 1962Before her philanthropy she worked in finance: equity analyst, founder of an investment bank, vice chairman of Arvest Bank Group; Father William H. Gates Sr. was an attorney and civic leader; mother Mary Gates was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent and chair of United Way International

Giving Pledge: Not a signer; Signed in 2010Co-founded the Giving Pledge in 2010 with Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett
Foundation: Alice L. Walton FoundationFounded 2017; she also founded Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (2005) and the Art Bridges Foundation (2017); Gates FoundationFormerly the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; renamed in 2025. He is trustee of the Gates Foundation Trust
Lifetime giving: $2BForbes, 16 Sep 2026. Forbes: more than an estimated $2 billion of her funds paid out by five family foundations through 2024; she has put more than $6 billion into them, plus at least $250 million to the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine; $63.9BGates Foundation, 31 Dec 2025. Joint total given by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates to the foundation from inception through 2025; no Gates-only figure is published

Role now: No roleFounder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Art Bridges Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation; Founder, no executive roleChair of the Gates Foundation; technology advisor to Microsoft's CEO
Successor: Greg Penner, Rob Walton's son-in-law, chairs Walmart's board; John Furner became CEO in 2026Two Walton family members sit on the board as non-management directors; Steve Ballmer succeeded him as Microsoft CEO in 2000; Satya Nadella is now chairman and CEONo Gates family member is named in a Microsoft executive role in the cited sources
Public office: Member, Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Advisory Council2021-; None found
Legal record: 1979: US SEC; 1998: Municipal court (Judge Stanley Ludwig)In a settled SEC proceeding concerning her work at E.F. Hutton, the SEC found she had wilfully violated or aided and abetted violations of securities antifraud rules and suspended her from the securities industry for six months from January 30, 1979. A municipal judge found her guilty on four counts, including driving while intoxicated and refusing a blood-alcohol test, after she contested the charges at trial.; 2004: US District Court for D.C. (DOJ case at the FTC's request)A consent final judgment in a case over a Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification violation ordered him to pay $800,000 in civil penalties, without trial or adjudication of facts or law.