Liberal Forum

Fuelman » Today, 8:17 am » wrote: ↑

Today, 8:17 am

Sam Walton was estimated to be worth $8-25 billion when he died in 92'. After transferring 80% of Walmart stock ownership to his children.

Interesting stat on Walmart:

Walmart is estimated to make up 2.5% of US GDP.

Here are plenty of others:

30 Celebrities Who Have Reached Billionaire Status, Including Taylor Swift and Beyoncé https://share.google/qCGxmx0dIWiSVgIgZ

There is much to argue wether they actually earned that money with their own hands, but their Names are on the letterhead and they pay the taxes.

I consider the other two low hanging fruit - too easy; So let's work with old Sam. I have mad respect for Sam Walton. I believe he was a good man. Let's say he was worth 8 billion when he died. 

My grandfather was a commercial fisherman in the Pacific Ocean. He owned his own boat. He retired in 1964 with 40k, which grew to about four hundred hundred thousand before my Gramma died and left it to the kids. Let's use the 400k that his fortune became, rather than what it was when he died in 73. I'm curious if you believe that Sam Walton provided 20,000 times the value my grandfather did. 

I'm not trying to **** on anybody - not on sam or you or my grandpa. I'm just trying to plumb your thinking on this. I mean, ANYBODY can answer from the tautology. But what does your gut say? Did Sam Walton deliver 20,000 times my grand daddy's value to society, middle-manning products that other men produced?

You can say he "created jobs," but I argue that in truth, the market Sam Walton rode to wealth created those jobs. The desire of people to buy good created those jobs. The producers of the goods created those jobs.

Sam didn't build that. 

If anything, Sam CUT jobs - because that's how ya **** win. You do it cheaper than the competition in a market when labor is your biggest cost after COGS. So, did Sam Walton out-contribute my grand daddy by 20,000 times, in your opinion?