Wal-Mart heir killed
The week's news at a glance.
Jackson, Wyo.
One of the richest men in America, Wal-Mart heir John Walton, died this week when his experimental ultralight aircraft crashed in Wyoming. Walton, 58, was the second son of Sam Walton, who founded what became the largest retail chain in the world. With a fortune estimated at $20 billion, John Walton, who served on Wal-Mart’s board, was No. 7 on Forbes magazine’s 2004 list of the wealthiest Americans. Walton, who flew homemade aircraft as a hobby, crashed “almost immediately after takeoff,” said a spokeswoman for Grand Teton National Park, which includes the airport grounds. Investigators could not immediately say what caused the crash.
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