Blockbuster Had Netflix in Its Hands — And Threw It Away

Blockbuster had 9,094 stores, 84,300 employees, and $5.9 billion in revenue. Six years after its peak, it was bankrupt. This is the full story: the $800 million late-fee machine, the 2000 Dallas meeting where Netflix offered to sell itself for $50 million, the comeback that nearly worked (Total Access), and the boardroom war that killed it from the inside. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Laugh 0:30 The Peak 1:52 The Rise 3:39 The Poison 5:15 The Meeting 6:53 The Comeback 8:36 The Collapse 10:21 The Last Store SOURCES & NOTES Key facts are drawn from company reporting and contemporary coverage; the "struggled to keep from laughing" account is from Marc Randolph's book "That Will Never Work," and the Apollo 13 late-fee story is the one Reed Hastings himself tells. Figures such as the 2004 peak (9,094 stores / 84,300 employees) and the 2010 bankruptcy (~$930M debt) are widely reported. NEXT EPISODE: Kodak — the company that invented the digital camera, and buried it. Did you have a Blockbuster card? Tell us your Friday night story in the comments. #Blockbuster #Netflix #BusinessDocumentary #RiseAndFall