The four members of the Walton Family, who control more than half the shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., lost $9.3 billion of their combined net worth Wednesday as shares of the retailer dropped following a lower earnings forecast for the upcoming fiscal year.
The loss comes as the Arkansas-based company, which once promoted its discount strategy with the phrase "Watch out for falling prices," announced Wednesday that earnings will slip by as much as 12 percent in the coming fiscal year, reported The Age. The announcement countered initial forecasts from analysts who had been estimating a slight gain.
The announcement caused Walmart's stock to drop by nearly 10 percent, which it blamed on the wage increase it implemented after years of being notoriously bad at paying its employees a fair salary, according to CNN.
The loss won't really harm the four billionaires bottom line, however. Christy, Jim, Alice and Rob Walton have a combined $122 billion fortune, most of which was inherited from Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, reported Bloomberg. The loss does, however, put the four among the year's worst-performing billionaires, having lost a total of $39 billion since Jan. 1.
The Waltons now join other billionaires who have suffered significant losses this year. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim suffered the greatest individual loss with $12.7 billion, followed by Warren Buffet, who lost $11.6 billion.
