Walmart has made a bunch of little old ladies wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.My family still owns stocks bought back in the early 80s.
A friend of ours was a cashier there. She was paid those "low wages" but was an "associate" who got stock in her retirement account for 30 years.
I think Walmart was $0.014 per share in 1974 pre-split prices!
This example gets to the heart of corporate culture and cycles. With the global playing field changing, it will be interesting to see which companies rise to the occasion, whether they be domestic, foreign or mulitnational.