For the ninth time in a decade, Alice Walton–the only daughter of late Walmart founder Sam Walton–is the richest woman on this year’s Forbes 400 ranking of the wealthiest people in America.

With shoppers flocking to Walmart’s “Every Day Low Prices” to escape high inflation, the retailer’s stock is up 41% since the 2023 Forbes 400, pushing the 74-year-old Walton’s net worth to an estimated $89.2 billion, up from $66.5 billion. She is $15 billion richer than the second-richest woman in the U.S., Julia Koch—who inherited 42% of privately held conglomerate Koch, Inc. (formerly known as Koch Industries) from her husband David Koch (d. 2019), and who briefly took Walton’s title as America’s wealthiest woman in 2022.

Walton, who ranks No. 15 on The Forbes 400 overall, is now within spitting distance of becoming the second-ever female centibillionaire. L'Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who is a citizen of France, joined the $100 billion club in June but fell to around $88 billion on September 4, when Walton briefly surpassed her to become the world’s richest woman for the first time since May 2022. (Bettencourt........

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