Retail giant Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) opened its first store in 1962 in Arkansas and has since expanded to have more than 10,500 stores across the U.S. and around the world.

The company is one of the largest retailers and companies in the world today, a move that may have been helped by going public in 1970.

Here's a look at how much an investment in Walmart at the time of its IPO could be worth today.

What Happened: Walmart opened its first store in July 1962 and in five years had 24 stores doing $12 million in annual sales. Today, the company is one of the largest retailers and constantly expanding into new areas and evolving its technology.

Incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores in 1969, the company laid out a plan to expand nationally in the 1970s. To help with expansion and financials, the company decided to publicly list its shares.

"We wanted to expand, and we realized we weren't generating enough profits both to expand and to pay off our debts …. (Bud and I) agreed to seriously explore the possibilities of going public. It was a huge step for us," Walmart co-founder Sam Walton said.

Walmart held its initial price offering Oct. 1, 1970 with shares priced at $16.50 and traded over-the-counter. Shares quadrupled in two years and were later uplisted to the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 25, 1972.

The rest, as they say, is history, with Walmart shares enjoying a strong return over the years and the company expanding nationally and internationally to become a top global brand, even topping the Fortune 500 list for many years as the top revenue generating public company.

Related Link: Walmart’s Store Managers Stand To Gain $20K In Stock Annually, Exceeding $525K In Total Compensation

Investing $1,000 In Walmart IPO: Walmart offered shares for $16.50 on Oct. 1, 1970 for its IPO. A $1,000 investment could have purchased 60.61 shares of Walmart stock.

Over the years, Walmart had had 11 2-for-1 stock splits, doubling the number of shares on each occasion. The 60.61 shares would have turned into 124,129.28 shares after the stock splits.

The $1,000 investment in Walmart stock at IPO would be worth $20,785,447.94 today based on a price of $167.45 for Walmart at the time of writing.

This represents a strong hypothetical return and doesn't take into account the quarterly dividend payments that Walmart has paid out since 1974 that would add to the overall return.

Walmart recently announced it would be splitting shares again. While a stock split doesn't mean the valuation will go up, it could continue a tradition of the company growing its stock price and valuation over time.

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