On this day in 1962 for good or ill- the first Wal-Mart opened in Rogers, Arkansas.  The founder of Wal-Mart was Sam Walton. Walton died in 1992 at the age of 74. Today Wal-Mart is the largest company in the world by revenue-as well as the worlds largest private employer with 2. 3 million employees. Today there are 11,695 Wal-Mart stores in 28 countries.