Wal-Mart Heir Dies in Plane Crash

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - John Walton, the billionaire son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and a member of the company's board, died Monday in a plane crash in Wyoming.

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Walton, 58, of Jackson, Wyo., was piloting an ultralight that crashed shortly after takeoff from the Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, the company said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the cause of the afternoon crash was not known, officials said.

The plane was an experimental ultralight aircraft with a small, gasoline-powered engine and wings wrapped in fabric similar to heavy-duty sail cloth, officials said.

In March, Forbes Magazine listed John Walton as No. 11 on its list of the world's richest people with a net worth of $18.2 billion. He was tied with his brother Jim, one spot behind his bother Rob, and just ahead of his sister Alice and his mother Helen.

Walton joined the board of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 1992, but did not work for the company.

"We're sad that John Walton, who was well-known and much-loved in this valley, died doing something that he loved to do, which was fly aircraft," said Joan Anzelmo, a spokeswoman for Grand Teton National Park.

"I saw parts of it," she said of the plane. "I didn't realize what I was seeing at first. It was so lightweight it looked like a giant model airplane."

Anzelmo said officials notified the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.

"Because this is a homemade, non-registered, experimental aircraft, at least today they told us there was not going to be an investigation," she said. Grand Teton rangers will conduct their own probe, as is done with any major accident in the park, she said.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said the company notified its employees worldwide of Walton's death.

Walton was an Army veteran who served with the Green Berets as a medic during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Silver Star for saving the lives of several members of his unit while under enemy fire, according to the company. He attended the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, and served as a board member of the Walton Family Foundation.

The company said Walton pursued a variety of business interests including working as a crop duster in the 1970s and building boats in the 1980s. More recently, he had formed a holding company, True North, to oversee various business interests.

Walton is survived by his wife, Christy, and son, Luke; his mother, Helen; two brothers, Rob and Jim; and a sister, Alice.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

holy shit

I was going to make a sarcastic joke about if his plane disintegrated on impact or not but never mind.


ill wait for a few more posts...

if i'm a billionaire...there is no way in hell i'm going to be flying around in some new experimental aircraft...

When you're a billionaire youve got so much money you probably wanna try some new shit. worked well for amelia and charles lindbergh...their lives were so much more enriched doing dangerous shit.

If he was the one who decided Wal-Mart needed to...

- ban books based on their liberal content
- ban music based on the "vulgarity" of the lyrics (while selling "clean" CDs next to movies with nudity and cursing)
- hire illegal aliens to be paid less than the federally mandated minimum wage
- force overnight employees to be locked into the stores, many times without a way to get out even for an emergency, "for their safety"
- instruct full-time employees on how to apply for food stamps and other federal aid programs because Wal-Mart's pay doesn't add up
- fire employees who brazenly excercise their right to discuss unions
- close stores that democratically vote to unionize
- build stores on culturally hallowed grounds
- force local small businesses out of business, while championing "the working family"
- ensure that human rights around the world, especially in China, are ignored just so long as supplier's prices are cheap

...then I'm glad the bastard's dead.

If he wasn't, this is just a sad event and doesn't really have a place for political discussion.

also, walmart is just plane evil...