Christy Walton: The Richest Woman in the World in 2014 and Again in 2015

Summary: Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton is the richest woman in the world in 2014 and again in 2015, according to Forbes magazine's billionaire listings.

Christy Walton during 2013 interview for "Bless Me, Ultima": Aneo, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Jackson Hole, Wyoming, native Christy Ruth Tallant Walton claims the title as the richest woman in the world for 2014 and again for 2015. Forbes' 2015 ranking of world billionaires lists Christy's fortune at $41.7 billion ($41,700,000.00). Forbes' 2014 ranking of world billionaires lists Christy's fortune at $36.7 billion ($36,700,000,000.00).

Christy's birthdate is variously given as Jan. 1, 1955, or as Feb. 8, 1949. Her place of birth is Jackson Hole in northwestern Wyoming.

Christy has described herself as a homemaker and a philanthropist.

Christy's wealth is inherited from her late husband, John Thomas Walton. John was born Oct. 8, 1946, as the second son and also second child of Wal-Mart retail giant founder Samuel "Sam" Walton (March 29, 1918-April 6, 1992) and his wife Helen Robson Kemper Walton (Dec. 3, 1919-April 19, 2007).

In 1973, John married Mary Ann Gunn, who, after their divorce three years later, attended law school at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Mary Ann practiced privately, with a primary focus on domestic relations, for 17 years before being elected to the bench in 1998. Mary Ann then served as Circuit Judge for Arkansas' Madison and Washington Counties for 13 years until resigning in 2011 to return to private practice, with a primary focus on drug rehabilitation.

Christy is John's second wife. The couple chose Christy's scenic hometown of Jackson Hole as their home base for raising their son Lukas (born 1986).

In 2005, Lukas graduated from Journeys School, which blends ecology, culture and community in their pre-kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum. Journeys School was established in 2001 as an independent, college preparatory school under the umbrella of Teton Science Schools. Founded in 1967, Teton Science Schools operate year-round as an innovative environmental education center in partnership with Grand Teton National Park.

In 2010, Lukas received a bachelor's degree in environmentally sustainable business from Colorado College. Founded in 1874, the private liberal arts college is sited in the Rocky Mountains' foothills at Colorado Springs in east central Colorado.

On June 27, 2005, two weeks after attending their son's high school graduation, Christy Walton was widowed by John's death in a plane crash. At 12:20 p.m. MT (Mountain Time), the CGS Hawk Arrow home-built aircraft that John was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff from Jackson Hole Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board later determined that the crash was caused by John's improper re-installation of the rear locking collar on the elevator control torque tube. The improper re-installation fatally prevented John from controlling the aluminum and canvas experimental aircraft's altitude.

Through John's estate, Christy's wealth derives from sharing 50.8 percent ownership of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., with her in-laws, Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton (born Oct. 28, 1944), Alice Louise Walton (born Oct. 7, 1949) and James "Jim" Carr Walton (born June 7, 1948).

Christy shares with in-laws Rob and Jim 96 percent ownership of the Walton family's Arvest Bank, with reported assets of approximately $14.3 billion ($14,300,000,000.00) as of March 2013.

Christy's inherited wealth also reflects holding of 30 percent ownership of solar energy company First Solar, an investment valued at $1 billion ($1,000,000,000.00).

Christy's philanthropic interests include co-chair of Children's Scholarship Fund (CSF), a charity that funds private school educations for low-income children. CSF was co-founded in 1998 by John with Republican financier Theodore "Ted" Joseph Forstmann (Feb. 13, 1940-Nov. 20, 2011).

Other philanthropic commitments entail serving as Emeritus Member of Teton Science Schools' Board of Directors and also, as of Oct. 14, 2014, as one of 10 Connoisseurs dedicated to building the collection of the Mingei International Museum. The folk art museum was established in San Diego, southern California, in 1978.

A constellation of events over several decades, beginning with receiving a copy of Rudolfo Anaya's 1972 novel, Bless Me, Ultima, from a friend in the late 1980s, inspired Christy to make her favorite novel into a film, an important item on her bucket list.

Diagnosed at age 3 with a rare form of kidney cancer that, defying chemotherapy treatments, spread to his lungs, Lukas was healed completely after five months on a plant- and herb-based diet supplied by food harvested from the family's home in National City, in southern California's San Diego County. In July 2006, Christy gave back to the community by donating her former home and its healing garden to the International Community Foundation to further the foundation's mission of promoting healthy communities in the San Diego-Baja California border region.

Christy underwent a near-death experience during a lethal bout of pneumonia.

John's unexpected death at the young age of 58 also emphasized the fragility of life.

Christy describes Bless Me, Ultima as the first, last and only film on her resumé as Executive Producer. She hopes that the legacy of the film, the fulfillment of a dream not only for her but also for the novel's author, Rudolfo Anaya, will be appreciation as a classic film, one to watch again and again, always with enjoyment and recognition of the story's appeal to the heart. Christy perceives America as a fear-based society, which she would like to see changed into a faith-based society.

Now, at the comparatively vigorous age of around 60, Christy enjoys the benefits of great wealth, epitomized by her title as the world's richest woman, and of the legendary closeness of the Walton clan.

Of interest in the scheme of her life is her decision in September 2013 to place her longtime home in Jackson Hole on the market, at a price tage of $12.5 million ($12,500,000,000.00), in favor of settling into her cliff-side mansion in La Jolla, California, as her main residence.

The unfolding of Christy Walton's billionaire life remains to be seen, with heart-based decisions easily expected.

Ultima (Míriam Colón), a curandera (traditional healer), shares her wisdom with Antonio (Luke Ganalon) in scene from Bless Me, Ultima: Bless Me, Ultima Movie @BlessMeUltimaMovie via Facebook Sept. 12, 2012

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Christy Walton during 2013 interview about "Bless Me, Ultima": Aneo, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/50668519@N00/13583984844/

Ultima (Míriam Colón), a curandera (traditional healer), shares her wisdom with Antonio (Luke Ganalon) in scene from Bless Me, Ultima: Bless Me, Ultima Movie @BlessMeUltimaMovie via Facebook Sept. 12, 2012, @ https://www.facebook.com/BlessMeUltimaMovie/photos/a.485257424831478/485290978161456/

For further information:

Arenas Entertainment. "Christy Walton interview, Bless Me, Ultima Movie." YouTube. Feb. 26, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42wxB7_UekQ

Ultima (Míriam Colón), a curandera (traditional healer), shares her wisdom with Antonio (Luke Ganalon) in scene from Bless Me, Ultima: Bless Me, Ultima Movie @BlessMeUltimaMovie via Facebook Sept. 12, 2012, @ https://www.facebook.com/BlessMeUltimaMovie/photos/a.485257424831478/485290978161456/

Bless Me, Ultima Movie @BlessMeUltimaMovie. 12 September 2012. "Updated their cover photo." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/BlessMeUltimaMovie/photos/a.485257424831478/485290978161456/

Johnson, Reed. "'Bless Me, Ultima's' journey to the big screen." Los Angeles Times > Collections > Movies. March 11, 2013.
Available @ http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/11/local/la-et-mn-bless-me-ultima-20130311

Marriner, Derdriu. "Film Review of Bless Me Ultima: The Ultimate Movie Version of the Novel by Rudolfo Anaya." Wizzley > Entertainment & Media > Movies > Drama. Jan. 13, 2015.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/film-review-of-bless-me-ultima-the-ultimate-movie-version-of-the-novel-by-rudolfo-anaya/