Nancy Walton Laurie

Nancy Walton Laurie
Born	(1951-05-15) May 15, 1951 Versailles, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Heiress, philanthropist
Known for	Walmart legacy, philanthropy
Spouse	Bill Laurie

Nancy Walton Laurie (born May 15, 1951) is an American billionaire heiress associated with the Walmart legacy.

Early life

Born on May 15, 1951, Nancy Walton Laurie is the younger daughter of Bud Walton, who was both sibling and business associate of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. She was raised in Versailles, Missouri, where she met her future spouse, Bill Laurie. After the passing of Bud Walton, she and her sister Ann Walton Kroenke inherited substantial Walmart shares, elevating them to billionaire status.

Philanthropy

In 2001, Laurie and her husband contributed $25 million to the University of Missouri to fund a new sports facility for the Missouri Tigers, initially bearing the name of their daughter, Paige Laurie. However, following a 2004 incident involving academic misconduct linked to Paige, the Lauries surrendered the naming rights, prompting the university to rename the venue "Mizzou." Additionally, they established the E. Paige Laurie Professorship at the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Equine Center. Their philanthropic efforts also encompass support for cancer research initiatives, shelters aiding abused women, and pediatric hospitals.

Laurie is the founder of the Nancy Walton Laurie Leadership Institute at the Chi Omega sorority. She served as president and founder of New York City’s Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet until its closure in 2015 and owns the Columbia Performing Arts Centre, a dance studio located in Columbia, Missouri.

Personal life

Nancy Walton Laurie married Bill Laurie while attending the University of Memphis (formerly Memphis State University).

The couple’s main residence is in the Las Vegas Valley, where they possess luxury homes in Henderson, Nevada and Bel Air, California. They maintain additional properties in Columbia, Missouri, including an equestrian farm dedicated to breeding appaloosa horses. In January 2015, Laurie initiated legal action through her firm LW Partnership against property developer Mohamed Hadid, alleging harm to a eucalyptus tree adjacent to their Bel Air estate. Reports from the Center for Investigative Reporting indicate that her Bel Air property consumes roughly 2.3 million gallons of water annually.

Laurie is also the owner of the superyacht Kaos, which she navigated to the United Kingdom in May 2023. In July 2023, environmental activists from the Spanish group Futuro Vegetal targeted Kaos in Ibiza by spraying paint on it and displaying a banner reading "You consume - others suffer".