Christy Walton (née Tallant) is a Walmart heiress by marriage — her late husband John Walton was one of Walmart founder Sam Walton’s four kids. John died 21 years ago when the experimental, ultralight airplane he built himself crashed (note to self: don’t take up amateur plane-building as a hobby), at which point Christy became steward of a sizable share of the Walmart fortune. And by sizable, I mean Forbes listed her as the richest woman in the world more than once during the 2010s. (Christy has since dropped out of the top 10, with her sis-in-law Alice Walton sitting pretty at #1; I feel like Julian Fellowes could make hay with this if he ever wanted to write something set in the current century.) Now Forbes is once again spotlighting Christy, after noticing the tiny type at the bottom of a full page print ad in the Sunday edition of the New York Times that read: “Paid for by Christy Walton.” What is Christy advertising in big print? A demand that the 70% of ICE detainees who have no previous criminal convictions be released immediately. Hear, hear.
The ad begins with a reprinting of the text of the Fourth Amendment — the clause in the Bill of Rights protecting Americans against unlawful searches and seizures and requiring probable cause for warrants.
A digital version of the ad cites a study published last November by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, which found that 73% of people in ICE custody since October 2025 had no previous criminal conviction, while only 8% had previous convictions for either violent or property crimes.
The ad calls on the government to “free the 70% of those in custody of ICE without a criminal conviction” and “hold due process on those who remain.”
The ad does not appear connected to a wider organization or protest, like her full page ad placed last year promoting the “No Kings” protests was, and the text states its “views represented here are solely those of Christy Walton.”
The ad ran in Sunday’s issue of the New York Times, and appears to have run in several smaller papers over the weekend — although a representative for Walton did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
We [Forbes] estimate Walton’s net worth at $22.9 billion, making her the 108th-wealthiest person in the world as of Sunday. Walton married Walmart heir John Walton and inherited part of his stake in the retail giant after he died in a 2005 plane crash. Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Although Walton is known for leading a private life in Wyoming, she has more recently emerged as a prolific donor for anti-Trump political causes. In 2024, she reportedly hosted a major fundraiser for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in Jackson Hole. She was also one of several billionaires who called on former President Joe Biden to drop out of the race in 2024 in the weeks after his notorious debate performance. Since 2020, she has also donated over $500,000 to the PAC founded by anti-Trump conservatives, according to donor records. In 2025, she placed two ads in the New York Times print edition for the “No Kings” protest movement against Trump, including one just days before the June demonstrations took place.
A full page ad in the NY Times Sunday print edition is probably the most expensive ad buy you can make with the newspaper, easily going for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Plus Christy purchased a digital version of the ad as well. But when your estimated net worth is $23 BILLION… yeah these are just pennies for Christy. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great she keeps buying these ads in the biggest way possible, and her donation track record seems to be good, too. But you can’t take it with you, and if there ever was a desperate, existential moment for our country that merited the boost of millions being gifted to the coffers, I’d say now is that moment. We need our women billionaires to follow MacKenzie Scott’s lead, here! (Men billionaires are welcome to as well, of course! I’m just tempering expectations.) Or better yet, in the Julian Fellowes version I’m still scripting in my head, Christy and sister-in-law/nemesis Alice would feud their way into a competition to see who can give more away. Hey, a peasant writer with a vivid imagination can dream!
Though this NY Times ad isn’t directly related to No Kings, it is well-timed for the next nationwide protest march coming up on Saturday. My sneakers are ready, I’ll see you there.
I totally missed this last week—Walmart heir Christy Walton took out a full-page ad in The New York Times taking a shot directly at Trump.
When even Walmart money is sounding the alarm, you know it’s bad. Walmart heir, y’all! pic.twitter.com/PwIU5D2TOt
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) March 31, 2025
Header photo is a screenshot from a 2013 interview with Christy Walton. Other photos credit Getty Images
This is how it’s done, rich people!
What a lovely lady and I like her dress too!
Brava!!! For taking a stand
Yes love the dress and colour and I love to see people smiling in pictures! She is doing something good with her money good for her.
More businesses should speak up. Trump is tanking the economy and so many workers are in concentration camps right now. Not only is speaking up the right thing to do, it will boost the bottom lines of these businesses when the illegal raids stop.
True story, one of the Walton grandchildren or great-grandchildren went to my high school. Ben. He was allowed to keep a pickup truck on campus, (it was a boarding school, no one else was allowed to keep a car, few of us even had driving licenses) ..and it was an old battered thing, that looked like vintage Americana. But he seemed nice enough, I’m wondering if she is his mum. She seems lovely.
Maybe that was Grandpa Sam’s pickup?
This is great! And the next time I have to get something from Walmart I will feel a bit less guilty.
Go, Christy, go! 💖
See you all on Saturday!
It took a married-in to redeem the Walton name. Sam Walton seems like he was a decent person. His greedy children? Not so much.
Maybe there is hope for the next generation of Waltons coming up.
I’ve never really wanted to be filthy rich, just rich enough to pay off the mortgages and tuitions of my nieces and nephews and kids. But if I were filthy rich, I’d have so much fun giving my money away.
Good for Christy. Still not shopping at Walmart, though.
Wouldn’t it be such a blast to give money away to organizations and individuals and watch your money continue on?
If I was filthy rich so many animal rescues and sanctuaries wouldn’t want for money for a long long time! Animals are my passion..esp dogs. I do what I can now but if I had the funds I’d really have some fun. 🙂
I just have to note the Forbes blurb is wrong: “ The ad begins with a reprinting of the text of the Fourth Amendment — the clause in the Bill of Rights protecting Americans against unlawful searches and seizures and requiring probable cause for warrants.”
It doesn’t protect just “Americans” or citizens, the Amendment says it provides this protection to “the people”, and it applies to citizens and non-citizens alike. Conservatives wish it wasn’t so, so they try to erase that protection.
I really admire that she did this and didn’t take out a big press release to brag on herself. Maybe a member of that family actually is concerned about this country and for the people that shop at Walmart. Of which there are obviously millions. I hope she continues good work. Also, really really nice to read some good news for a change. Thanks!
Let’s hope it works!
I agree she could do much much more, and I hope she is and does.
As for this ad, good for her!
I’ll also say it’s nice to see someone rich enough to pay for all the plastic surgery, who seems to have left her face well enough alone. Aging gracefully gets a Brava! from me.
Nice to know. I don’t agree with pressure on rich women to do more with their fortunes though, since there are way fewer women than men in that role. They probably plan to donate when they’re older or are already planning and donating. I wish there was open pressure on billionaires, a campaign asking them what they’ve done for the planet, the oceans, health, etc, each year.
Agree @Jmo, there absolutely should pressure on billionaires to do something for the planet.