Going Public

1970

Wal-Mart begins selling shares over the counter as a publicly held company, and will split 2-for-1 five times over the next 12 years. That year also sees the opening of Wal-Mart's Bentonville headquarters, known as the "Home Office." At that point, Wal-Mart has just 1,500 employees working in 38 stores, with sales of $44.2 million.