Walmart is the company that operates the world's largest retail chain by revenue and was founded by Sam Walton in 1962.
Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas, on July 2, 1962. The company focused on selling products at low prices, especially in smaller American towns that were often underserved by large department-store chains.
Walmart expanded through a mixture of new stores, logistics investment, acquisitions, and international operations. Its major businesses include Walmart stores, Sam's Club warehouses, and e-commerce services. The company became a publicly traded corporation in 1970.
Walmart is sometimes confused with Sam's Club, which is a membership warehouse division owned by Walmart. Revenue leadership also does not automatically mean market-cap leadership: sales, profit, and investor valuation are separate ways to compare companies.