Inspiration to Live Your Magic: 75 Inspiring Biographies

Sam Walton
Sam Walton had a dream: to own his own department store. It was a 
long and winding road to reach his goal, but he was committed, smart, 
innovative and, above all, a hard worker. The result? The Wal-Mart 
empire now has 9,000 stores in fifteen countries.
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Many people consider Sam Walton to be the smartest businessman in history. He was 
certainly one of the most successful: starting from one store, he created the Wal-Mart 
chain, the largest retail business in the world. He also invented the Price Club and Sam’s 
Club chains of discount stores.
Before he died in 1992, Sam was the second-richest man in the world, behind only Bill 
Gates!
His achievements are even more impressive when you know that Sam was born on a 
small farm in Oklahoma and raised during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when 
worldwide economic disaster created widespread unemployment and poverty.
For young Sam, it meant working before and after school to earn extra money for his 
family, then working his way through university to pay for his tuition. He took every job 
he could find, from waiting tables to delivering newspapers. In between, he served as a 
military cadet leader, Sunday school volunteer, class president, and starting quarterback 
of the football team!
Despite the huge extra demands on his time, Sam was a top student, earning a spot in the 
U.S. National Honors Society. It’s not that he was smarter than everyone else; he just 

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worked harder.
After university, Sam Walton got a job working in a department store and dreamed of one 
day owning his own shop. After serving in World War II, he used his Army pay to lease a 
store that was part of a franchise chain. He built it up into such a huge success that the 
franchise owner bought Walton out and took the store back for himself.
Now that he had more money to work with, Sam Walton finally realized his dream of 
owning a department store. It was the first step towards the Wal-Mart empire that now 
boasts nearly 9,000 stores in fifteen countries and employs more than a million people.
Walton developed ideas we take for granted today, but were great innovations at the time 
- discount pricing, extended hours, numerous cash registers, profit-sharing with 
employees, and involvement in community activities.
Sam Walton said the secret to his success were plain hard work and ten simple rules:
1. Commit to your goals
2. Share your rewards
3. Energize your colleagues
4. Communicate all you know
5. Value your associates
6. Celebrate your success
7. Listen to everyone
8. Deliver more than you promise
9. Work smarter than others
10. Blaze your own path
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