Something really changed with that company after old Sam Walton died. I think he was as down to Earth sort of fellow as they come, no matter how big his bank account/stock holdings grew to. I heard that when someone met him at the landing stripe of the plane he flew in there'd just as likely to be a bunch of his hunting dogs jump out of the plane and into the limo, as anyone else.
Bean counters and lawyers have no doubt brought about these changes, as with any other company.