We‘ll be clear about what the lies are in these statements, but first, the truths. Yes, the entire Walton family is worth around $175 billion. That net worth will get them inside the top 20 of the richest people to ever exist. Let’s not forget that in today’s money, John D Rockefeller was worth twice as much just by himself.
The lie is within the implications of Bernie Sanders’ statements. By reading his posts or listening to him speak, you would assume that the Walton‘s have been reaping massive cash profits yearly from the company, leaving little money to be paid out to the lowly workers.
In reality, of the Walton family’s $175 billion in “net worth,” $160 billion of it is in their 50.8% ownership of Walmart. So what is the point in weaving together the value of the ownership (in shares) of the company, and the money that the workers are paid?
The point is that it’s a beautiful play on your emotions. In reality, the value of the company has zero bearing on what the workers are paid. We‘ve done these calculations in numerous videos before, but since they price everything so cheap, Walmart only maintains a 1.8% profit margin. Meaning there are not just loots of cash lying around all over the place. Actually, Walmart only has around $50 billion in cash total.
Side note: There is no tie between the profits a company makes, and the perceived value of the corporation. Take Uber, Twitter, Tesla, Snapchat, and about 5,000 other companies as examples. Uber is not making any profit, and has publicly stated that they don't know if they will ever become profitable, but their company is valued around $70 billion by the stock market.
The point? Talking about ownership in stock being "worth" a certain amount of money is rarely tied to the profits earned by the company. It's all speculation in a perceived value. Click here for a list of notable companies that haven't made a profit.
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