Short answers, pulled from the story.
Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City store on the 2nd of July 1962 at 719 West Walnut Street in Rogers, Arkansas. The company was incorporated as Wal-Mart, Inc. on the 31st of October 1969 and changed its name to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1970. The original location of the first store is now occupied by a hardware store and an antiques mall.
Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962 after purchasing a Ben Franklin store branch in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1945. The business model focused on selling products at low prices to generate higher-volume sales with lower profit margins. The company is currently controlled by the Walton family, who own over 50 percent of Walmart through Walton Enterprises and individual holdings.
Walmart failed to establish a foothold in Germany and Indonesia during the 1990s due to market competition and cultural issues. The company withdrew from Germany in July 2006 after estimated losses of around $3 billion, and stores in Indonesia closed due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. These ventures involved significant financial investments that did not yield long-term success.
Walmart changed employee benefits during the pandemic to allow staff to take unpaid leave if they felt unable to work or uncomfortable coming to work. Employees who contracted the virus received up to two weeks of pay, and those unable to return after two weeks were eligible for up to 26 weeks in pay. The company paid pandemic bonuses totaling $428 million, with full-time workers receiving $300 and part-time workers receiving $150.
Walmart announced on the 6th of December 2017 that it would change its corporate name to Walmart Inc. from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. effective the 1st of February 2018. The company announced in 2025 that it would switch its stock exchange listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Walmart began trading as a Nasdaq-listed security on the 9th of December 2025 and was included in the Nasdaq-100 on the 20th of January 2026.
Walmart announced in January 2023 that it would raise its minimum wage for hourly workers from $12 to $14 an hour, effective in March. Approximately 340,000 employees were expected to receive this raise. The company employs 2.1 million people, making it the largest private employer in the world.