1 Year Later, Wal-Mart's Jet.com Acquisition Is an Undeniable Success

When Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) spent $3.3 billion to take over e-commerce start-up Jet.com, much of the financial media raised its eyebrows.

The consensus seemed to be that Wal-Mart dramatically overpaid for an unproven, profitless, e-commerce business as it was the highest price ever paid for a U.S. e-commerce business, while others derided the move as a "acqui-hire," arguing that Wal-Mart shelled out billions primarily to gain the services of Jet.com Founder Marc Lore. Lore, who had sold his first e-commerce business, Diapers.com-parent Quidsi to Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) in 2010, is considered by many to be the sharpest mind in e-commerce behind Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Lore took over Wal-Mart's U.S. e-commerce operations and continues to run Jet.

Despite those claims, Wal-Mart's performance and its advances in e-commerce show that the acquisition, even with its lofty price tag, was the right decision.

Source: Fool.com