Alice Walton, Walmart heiress and one of the world’s richest women has donated an estimated $1.5 billion to various charitable causes over her lifetime. Recently, she made her largest known charitable contribution, according to a newly released tax return. Her Texas-based Art Bridges Foundation distributed $390 million during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023. This included $249 million allocated to the new Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas, her family’s hometown. Forbes estimates that Walton’s lifetime donations have now positioned her as one of the 30 largest philanthropists in the U.S.
Walton currently ranks as the 26th-most generous philanthropist in America, just behind cable TV pioneer Amos Hostetter Jr., who has given an estimated $1.7 billion to causes like climate change, the arts, and education. However, she remains well behind Warren Buffett, the country’s top donor.
The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, which is working to gain accreditation, aims to offer a four-year MD program that integrates traditional medical education with arts, humanities, and whole health principles. The school is scheduled to open in 2025 and welcome its first class of 48 students to a 154,000-square-foot facility connected by woodland trails to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art—Walton’s most high-profile philanthropic project to date. In 2023, her Art Bridges Foundation contributed $30 million to the museum…