Lukas Walton, the billionaire grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is reinventing the family office – building a multibillion-dollar funding machine supporting charities, startups, and startups. technology, public companies and activists seeking global change. Walton, 36, last year launched Builders Vision, a Chicago-based impact investment hub with more than $4 billion in assets. It consists of a venture capital, philanthropic and wealth management firm, all managed by a team of 100 employees. While most family offices separate philanthropy and investing, Walton has brought them together into one super outlet for impact investing – funding social and environmental causes through startups, public companies or charities. Or, as he likes to say, “from NGO to IPO.” “What we’re doing here is a challenge,” Walton told CNBC in his first TV interview. “We’re trying to bring cultures together from philanthropy, from impact investing, from venture capitalists, not to mention public markets and equity managers. three different cultures right?” According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Walton is worth $22 billion, largely through his 4% ownership of Wal-Mart, inherited from his father John Walton. However, he is rapidly forging his own path, focusing on three major global issues: sustainable food, ocean health, and energy transition. His goals are personal. Growing up in San Diego, Lukas also spent time with his family camping, hiking, and backpacking in the Colorado Mountains and the West. His father, the late John T. Walton, was a former Green Beret, venture capitalist, entrepreneur and adventurer who died in 2005 when his ultralight plane crashed in Wyoming. Walton says his connection to nature drives much of his investing and philanthropy. “I have always appreciated the environment for that exposure,” he said. As a toddler, Walton was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer. HI’s mother, Christy Walton, switched his diet to mostly fruits and vegetables grown in their garden – which he credits helped him recover. Builders Vision was an early investor in SweetGreen and Beyond Meat and is funding dozens of other food-related startups including Soli Organic, an indoor farming company, to Imagindairy, the manufacturing company. Milk proteins of non-animal origin. Like many creators and heirs of fortune in his generation, Walton aims to demonstrate that “profit and purpose go hand in hand”. The Builders Vision venture capital fund, known as S2G, is in the top quartile of venture funds by return, by Cambridge Associates standards. Walton said screening all investments – including stocks, bonds and other financial products – for ESG and impact investing criteria has resulted in less volatility in the portfolio. Wider. Climate change, food supplies and ocean health are also investment risks, he said. “We are evaluating how [investment managers] are looking at a whole range of different risks that might not be captured in a standard due diligence record,” he said. ESG is a tool. It’s about expecting some systemic risk to create volatility. And develop better measures to quantify those risks. I don’t know an investor who wouldn’t want that.” Walton has long traveled through the worlds of investing and social change. He majored in environmental science and economics at the University of Colorado, founded his own food startup, a sustainability investment firm in Chicago and chair of the Walton Family Foundation’s Environmental Committee.He wears jeans and comfortable sneakers. and would rather meet potential customers at their farm or ocean lab than in a boardroom, but he admits he’s just started his journey – and hopes the offices Other families will follow Builders Vision’s example. “Always be open to new perspectives and be patient with yourself,” he says. And talk to others. Tell us.”