11 things you probably didn't know about Walmart

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  • Walmart is a retail giant around the world, with over 11,000 stores and subsidiaries in 27 different countries.
  • According to the company's website, most of their managers started in the company as hourly associates - even CEO Doug McMillon unloaded Walmart trucks as a teen.
  • The Walton Family, heirs to the Walmart empire, is worth around $150 billion combined.
  • Some of the best-selling items on Walmart's website in 2018 included pillows and televisions.

Walmart is a behemoth. The retail giant earned over $500 billion in revenue in its 2018 fiscal year. That's more than the GDP of countries like Ireland and Austria. If Walmart were a country, it'd be the 42nd largest economy in the world, right behind Switzerland.

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Walmart is a huge global brand. The company has over 11,000 Walmart stores and subsidiaries in 27 different countries. This includes over 500 Sam's Clubs in the United States, 600 Asda locations in the United Kingdom, and 300 Seiyu supermarkets in Japan.

Around the world, Walmart says it employs 2.2 million people, with 1.5 million of them in the US.

Walmart claims that its store managers make, on average, $170,000 a year while overseeing 300 employees.

Walmart also claims that over 75% of their store management teams started as hourly employees.

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Doug McMillon got his start as an hourly worker. He worked a summer job at Walmart unloading trucks when he was a teenager in 1984. 30 years later, McMillon took over Walmart as its CEO.

McMillon's hidden talent? His Chewbacca impression.

- That's good, not bad.

- For early in the morning.

- Yeah, no that's good.

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As CEO, McMillon took home $22.8 million. The median Walmart employee, meanwhile, made $19,177. That means McMillon made 1,188 times more than the median Walmart employee.

But that's nothing compared to the fortune of the Waltons, the heirs to the Walmart empire. The Walton family is worth around $150 billion combined, making them the wealthiest family in America.

Some of the best selling items in the United States on Walmart's website in 2018 included HDTVs and Mainstays Pillows. The Instant Pot was the top-selling item in Arkansas, where Walmart was founded and is still headquartered. Del Monte creamed corn dominated sales in Vermont, which was the last state to open a Walmart.

What's next for Walmart? Be on the lookout for robot custodians that are built to collect data while scrubbing floors, without any human help.

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