
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995                   TAG: 9503220054
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BENTONVILLE, ARK.                                LENGTH: Short

BUD WALTON, BILLIONAIRE RETAILER, DIES

James L. ``Bud'' Walton, who helped his brother Sam found Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and became a billionaire in the process, died Tuesday. He was 73.

Walton died of an aneurysm in Miami, said Jim von Gremp, longtime family friend and a state representative from Bentonville, where the retailing giant is based and Walton lived.

In 1962, Sam and his younger brother opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers. While Sam Walton was the leader in making the company the nation's largest retailer, his brother served as Wal-Mart's senior vice president and director, specializing in obtaining real estate and getting new stores built.

Last October, Forbes magazine listed Bud Walton's wealth at $1 billion, ranking him as the 83rd richest person in the country. Other Walton relatives are ranked in the top 15.

In the book ``Sam Walton, The Inside Story of America's Richest Man,'' Sam Walton was quoted as saying that his brother ``has common sense and superior judgment, and I have listened to him more times than folks realize.''

Sam Walton died in 1992.

Wal-Mart spokesman Don Shinkle said Walton died after surgery at a Miami hospital. The company ordered all Wal-Mart stores across the country - there are more than 2,000 now - to fly their American flags at half-staff.

- Associated Press

by CNB