
Walmart’s Three-Billion-Dollar Hire - jonbaer
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/walmarts-three-billion-dollar-hire
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rdlecler1
I've been thinking a lot about this acquisition and I think I figured it out.
Jet was really not growing and it would have been hard for their backers to
pony up based on those metrics. However, Jet was still at a point where they
were relevant and could potentially compete with Amazon. They could have
waited a 12-18 months and bought Jet for 1/6th the price but they would have
lost employees and a brand that could potentially compete with Amazon. At some
point brand value falls of a cliff (think MySpace, Friendster).

In many ways this is hedge on Walmart's future. If they don't buy Jet it's
unlikely that they build something in house. However right now, they, and Jet
has a fighting chance and I guess that fave Jet more leverage in the
negotiation.

