How Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) Became the World’s Biggest Retailer

Wal-Mart began expanding internationally in 1991, but the following year, Sam Walton died of bone cancer, leaving his immense fortune to several heirs. The total wealth of those heirs has since swelled past the $110 billion mark, leading to criticism from the media over the fact that one family controls as much wealth as the poorest 40% of all American families, representing nearly 49 million households. The average Wal-Mart hourly worker would need to work for seven million years to earn as much money as the Walton heirs.

Wal-Mart continued to grow rapidly despite the loss of its founder. A year after Walton’s passing, the company recorded its first-ever week of $1 billion in companywide sales. Sales doubled to over $100 billion by 1997, the same year that the company’s leading position among American retailers earned it a spot on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow Jones Indices:.DJI). Wal-Mart became the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow Jones Indices:.DJI)’s only consumer retail company after Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:SHLD)’ removal two years later, and has remained so to the present day. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) became the largest company in America by revenue in 2002, with $220 billion in annual sales. In the decade that followed, Wal-Mart again doubled its annual revenue, and it looks set to become the first company in American history to generate half a trillion dollars in annual sales within the next few years.

TIME honored Wal-Mart’s 50th anniversary in 2012 with a list of 10 ways the company changed the world. In brief, the 10 big changes are:

Everyday low prices (no sales, just bargains) in retail.

An immense selection of stuff under one roof.

The retail landscape (promoting suburban sprawl).

The decline of American labor and the acceptance of workforce abuse.

Retail’s integration and coordination with supply chain partners.

The “corporate culture” as a means of systemic management.

The use of data to manage retail processes and adapt to consumer trends.

A culture of conspicuous overconsumption.

The use of sustainable (green) business practices as a way to save money.

Making globalization work for businesses through accessibility.

The article How Wal-Mart Became the World’s Biggest Retailer originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST). The Motley Fool owns shares of Costco Wholesale.

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