How the world’s richest woman spends her $134 billion fortune

Alice Walton, 76, has never shown much interest in running Walmart. Her father, Sam Walton, built the retail empire, but Alice spent only a few months working there in 1971 as a buyer in the children’s clothing department. Beyond owning an enormous amount of Walmart stock, she has never served on the company’s board or joined its senior management. That role was largely left to her brothers. Walton chose something very different. This year, Forbes named her the world’s richest woman for the third time, estimating her fortune at about $134 billion. She ranks 14th among the world’s richest people overall. Unlike the rest of the Walton family, Alice spent more than five decades deliberately avoiding the management of the family business and building a life centered on two passions: American art and horses. Her interest in art began in childhood, when she discovered watercolor painting.