Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) treated the internet as a sideline for a very long time. That changed in August 2016, when the retailer bought Jet.com for $3.3 billion.
That was a very risky deal. The brick-and-mortar retailer paid a huge premium for a money-losing company that was doing only $1 billion in sales. It turned out, however, that Wal-Mart wasn't just buying a company. It was buying a leadership team led by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore.
The retailer immediately put Lore in charge of its digital operations and gave him free rein to make changes. That has happened quickly, with Lore not only altering how the company operates online, but also working to make it a true omnichannel retailer.
Source: Fool.com