Sam Walton opened his first retail store in 1945, then called Walton's 5-10. His plan was to sell more by offering lower prices. Even though this would mean less profit per item sold, he hoped the greater sales volume would make up for it. And, well, the plan worked better than he expected. With over $144.7 billion dollars, Sam's family is now amongst the richest in the world and everyone in America would soon now what WalMart is, well, with the exception of Paris Hilton.