The strange thing about the Waltons is that although they are the richest family in the world, they have largely flown under the radar for decades.

The clan are the descendants of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart , and are worth a combined wealth of about $191 billion – or £157 billion.

He and his wife, Helen, had four children – Rob, John, Jim and Alice, all of whom are billionaires.

After Sam's death in 1992, Rob took over as chairman, while John served as a director before dying in a plane crash in the mid-2000s.

Jim and Alice are not directly involved in the running of the company – although Jim's son, Steuart is on the board.

Since 1962 the family have enjoyed the profits of Walmart – which is only eclipsed by Amazon as a worldwide retailer, with more than 11,000 stores in 27 countries.

It owns the Asda supermarket chain in this country, and trade as the Seiyu Group in Japan and Best Price in India.

According to business news agency Bloomberg , the Waltons' fortune is growing at a jaw-dropping rate.

In the last year, the family earned £57,000 every minute, £3.3 million every hour, and £82 million per day.

Since you began reading this, the Walton's empire expanded by £19,000.

On the other hand, a new Walmart employee – known within the firm as 'associates' – would have made about five pence, on the way to a £10 hourly minimum wage.

But who are the Waltons, and how did they become so rich?

The world's richest family tree

• Sam Walton married Helen Robson in 1943

• He opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962

• He and Helen had four children – Samuel (Rob) Robson, John Thomas, James (Jim) Carr and Alice Louise

• Sam Walton died in 1992, leaving ownership of the company to his family

• Rob took over as chairman, and John served as a director before his death in 2005

• He left behind wife Christy and one son, Lukas

• Jim and Alice are not directly involved in the company, although Jim is chairman of the board of the Walton's Arvest Bank

• His son Steuart is on the Walmart board, and has three other children: Thomas, James and Alice

•   Alice is divorced with no children, while Rob is believed to have at least four children from three marriages

Born in 1918 Sam Walton was renowned for his frugality, reports news.com.au.

He allegedly only flew first class once in his life, and lived in a modest home, driving a beaten-up red truck.

Rob, his eldest child, seems to be more happy to splash his cash.

According to Business Insider , he owns a collection of expensive vintage cars , and in 2013 he managed to wreck an ultra-rare Daytona Coupe, which was thought to be worth £12.3 million.

When John Walton died in a plane crash in 2005, he left around 17 per cent of his fortune to wife, Christy, with the rest going to an assortment of charities and his son, Lukas.

Jim Walton, 71, who is married to Lynne McNabb Walton, holds an estimated net worth of £40.8 billion.

Jim and Lynne have four children — Alice A Proietti, Thomas L Walton, James M Walton and Steuart Walton.

The latter is one of the company's directors and married Baywatch star Kelly Rohrbach earlier this year.

He and his brother, Thomas are reportedly avid mountain bikers, and together they co-founded an investment company, RZC Investments.

Alice Walton has a fortune of around £40 billion. She has been divorced twice and has no children.

Alice's passion is believed to be the arts, having amassed an enormous personal collection worth approximately $500 million.

Five years ago, she stole headlines by paying £36.5 million on a painting by renowned artist Georgia O’Keeffe.

It was the most ever spent on a piece of art created by a woman.

She’s also bought and sold a series of luxury properties over the years, including two sprawling ranches in Texas and an apartment on New York's uber-exclusive Park Avenue.

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