Half of the estate was placed into tax-friendly vehicles known as charitable lead annuity trusts, or CLATs, of which Lukas is the only beneficiary.
For the other half, Walton directed that two-thirds was to be held in trust for Lukas. The remainder went to his widow.
The charitable trusts make annual non-taxable payments under IRS guidelines to the Walton Family Foundation charitable arm until 2036. If its investments outperform certain benchmarks, whatever is left at the end goes to Lukas without any tax bill.
In Bloomberg’s calculation, Lukas isn’t credited with the portion of the estate held by the charitable trusts. If he were, his net worth would be as high as $25 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Depending on future performance, Lukas may not receive anything from these CLATs, according to an adviser for the family who asked not to be named as the details are private. It was John Walton’s intent to leave half his estate to charity, the adviser said.
Currently the trusts are accumulating assets faster than they’re giving them away, according to an analysis by Bloomberg based on the fair market value of these trusts as reported in annual IRS filings. That suggests the underlying assets could ultimately pass to Lukas in 21 years.
Christy’s Share
Christy’s share of her husband’s estate -- about 17 percent, according to the unsealed will -- includes 500,000 Wal- Mart shares, personal effects, interest in various ranches and other sundries. A philanthropist, she donated the Victorian house in National City, California, where she had lived with John and Lukas, to charity in 2006.
"The Waltons were always very good at being very philanthropic to youth programs, but they always did it anonymously," National City’s Morrison said.
Family Rule