Wal-Mart founder's son killed in plane crash

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, said John Walton, the billionaire second son of its founder, Sam Walton, has been killed in a plane crash.

Wal-Mart said John Walton, one of the richest men in the world, was killed when a small, ultra-light home-made aircraft he was piloting crashed shortly after take-off from the Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming.

The cause of the early afternoon crash has not yet been determined, Wal-Mart said in a statement.

Walton, 58, was a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors, serving on the board's strategic planning and finance committee.

Walton is ranked 11th on Forbes magazine's most recent list of the world's richest people, with a net worth estimated at US$18.2 billion.

Through Walton Enterprises, LLC, he and the rest of the Walton family owned about 40 per cent of Wal-Mart shares, according to Wal-Mart's regulatory filings.

He is survived by his wife and their son; his mother; two brothers, a sister and their families. His brother S. Robson Walton is chairman of Wal-Mart's board.

John Walton, an experienced pilot who was a resident of Jackson Hole, was flying a 400- to 500-pound home-made plane, with an aluminum body, cloth-covered wings and a small engine, Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo said. It crashed onto a sagebrush-covered plain at 12:20 p.m. local time (1420 EDT), she said.

Park rangers were investigating the crash, she said, adding that the Federal Aviation Administration had declined to do so as the crash involved an unregistered aircraft.

"This is a horrible tragedy. what is so unusual about this is it is the founder's son," Bill Dreher, a Wal-Mart analyst at Deutsche Bank, said. "Sam Walton was brilliant with estate planning. I don't know the details with John Walton, but I would expect there would be a smooth transition."

Walton, who served in the US Army Green Berets as a medic during the Vietnam War, had been a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors since 1992. He was awarded a Silver Star for helping save the lives of several members of his unit while under intense enemy fire, according to Wal-Mart.

Throughout his life, Walton pursued a variety of business interests, including crop dusting in the 1970s and boat building in the 1980s and 1990s.

More recently, Walton, also a keen philanthropist, formed the holding company True North, which is composed of businesses ranging from boat building to venture capital investments.

From July 1983 to March 1994, he was chairman of Corsair Marine, Inc.

- REUTERS