Walton’s African Voyage Spurs Grant
by July 31, 2006 12:00 am 96 views
A trip to Africa about four years ago spurred S. Robson Walton’s interest in preserving wilderness, according to a July 27 story in Fortune magazine.
Rob Walton is chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. He’s also the son of company founder Sam Walton.
The Fortune article said that, after the Africa trip, a mutual friend introduced Rob Walton to Peter Seligmann, co-founder and CEO of Conservation International, a Washington, D.C., environmental organization.
Since then, Seligman has taken Rob Walton and his two sons on a series of adventures. They hiked in Madagascar, traveled by boat through the world’s largest freshwater wetland in Brazil and went diving in the Gal?pagos Islands. The group also went scuba diving off Coco Island in Costa Rica with Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard.
The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation eventually made a $21 million grant to CI for ocean-protection programs, and Walton joined the group’s board.