One of Netflix's founders has revealed Blockbuster turned down buying the company in a pretty savage way.
Netflix was first founded in August 1997 by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, however, by 2000, 'broke, desperate and out of options,' the pair decided to try and sell the startup to Blockbuster.
In his book titled That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea, Randolph reflected on the time he and Hastings met with Blockbuster Media bosses in a bid to 'join forces' and sell their start-up to the huge multimedia brand.
In the duo's pitch to Blockbuster, led by Hastings, the Netflix founders pitched to 'run the online part of the combines business' and allow Blockbuster to 'focus on the stores'.
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Hastings said during the meeting, as quoted in Randolph's book: "We will find the synergies that come from the combination, and it will truly be a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts."
Executive VP and general counsel of Blockbuster Video at the time Edward Stead then turned round to Reed and asked him what price he was suggesting the company buy Netflix for.
Hastings responded: "Fifty million."
And the reaction from Blockbuster bosses was astounding.
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According to Randolph, CEO of Blockbuster from 1997 to 2007 John Antioco was then spotted 'struggling not to laugh'.
Randolph added: "The meeting went downhill pretty quickly after that, and it was a long, quiet ride back to the airport."
Alas, ultimately it wasn't Blockbuster, but Netflix who's had the last laugh.
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After reaching its peak in 2004, sadly, the only way after that was down for Blockbuster.
In 2010, the company ended up filing for bankruptcy and despite its remaining stores being bought by Dish Network, all stores were closed by 2014 - bar one in Oregon.
Oh, and if that wasn't bleak enough, it also found itself at the centre of a Netflix comedy titled - you guessed it - Blockbuster - all about its downfall.
By way of contrast, as Blockbuster was dwindling, Netflix continued to grow.
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In April last year, Randolph took to X to reflect on the incident of being 'laughed [...] out of the room' by Blockbuster bosses.
He continued: "Today, the company they could have bought for $50 million has a market cap north of $150 billion. And the company that once had 9,000 stores, is down to a single one. But what lesson to take from this?
"That it’s possible for a handful of people, with no prior experience in the video business, to take down a 6 billion dollar category leading company? Sure.
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"But I think the more important lesson - a lesson that Blockbuster learned too late - is simply this: If you are unwilling to disrupt yourself, there will always be someone willing to disrupt your business for you."
And Blockbuster bosses are likely kicking themselves even more this year since as of May 2024, 'Netflix has a market cap of $262.62 billion,' Companies Market Cap reports.
The site continues: "This makes Netflix the world's 38th most valuable company by market cap according to our data."
Ah, the beauty of hindsight, eh Blockbuster?
UNILAD has contacted John Antioco for comment.
Topics: Netflix, Film and TV, Money, Entertainment, Business