Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., doing business as Walmart, is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States, the company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated on October 31, 1969. As of November 30, 2015, it has a total of 11,598 stores in 28 countries, under a total of 65 banners.
Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2014, as well as the biggest private employer in the world with 2.2 million employees. Walmart is a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family. Sam Walton's heirs own over 50 percent of Walmart through their holding company, Walton Enterprises, and through their individual holdings.[9] It is also one of the world's most valuable companies by market value,[10] and is also the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. In 2009, it generated 51 percent of its US$258 billion (equivalent to $285 billion in 2015) sales in the U.S. from its grocery business.[11]
