How To Value A Failed Dot Com?
from the er...-shouldn't-that-be-zero? dept
Just how do you value a failed dot com? I would think that the number would tend to run towards zero, but apparently, that's not always the case. We'd already talked about some of the complaints shareholders had about Staples buying Staples.com in what looked like a sweetheart deal to compensate the Staples.com management. Now, some of the background information (in the form of emails with bankers) explains how Staples came up with the $900 million price. Basically, it sounds as though they said to Wit Capital, "figure out a way to justify $900 million" and that's exactly what Wit did. Wit, of course, claims the messages were taken out of context. Aren't they always?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
