Best Buy founder wants to buy company for $8.5 billion

[Shawn Knight]

Best Buy founder Richard Schulze stepped down as chairman in June following the discovery that he was aware of an inappropriate relationship between former CEO Brian Dunn and a female employee. But the 71-year-old Schulze, who owns a 20.1 percent stake in the company, is itching to get back to work and has offered to buy the retailer for up to $28 per share, or 38 percent higher than the company’s closing price on August 3, according to a report from Bloomberg.

In a letter addressed to Best Buy’s board, the founder offered to contribute $1 billion of his personal money towards a deal with the remainder of the $8.5 billion sum coming from financing and private-equity firms. His credit adviser is confident that it can obtain the necessary financing to complete a deal.

Schulze could have cashed out his large stake in the company and lived a comfortable life but the entrepreneur isn’t ready to call it quits just yet. In his letter to the board, Schulze said he has been exploring all available options with regards to his ownership stake and believes that bold and extensive changes are needed for Best Buy to return to market leadership. The best way for this to happen is under a different ownership structure, he concludes.

News of the offer struck a chord with investors as shares in the big box company shot up 22 percent, resulting in the biggest single day gain since October 2002. Overall share value in the company has dropped 25 percent since the beginning of the year, however.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/49660-best-buy-founder-wants-to-buy-company-for-85-billion.html

 

[3DCGMODELER]

get a life dude...

 

[gwailo247]

Different business structure, same business model?

Insanity is doing the same thing the same way expecting a different result.

 

[Guest]

The only way this could work is if the guy actually changed how the business runs/operates. Yes, stock holders just want to make a buck, not caring about the company. This, if done properly could bring Best Buy back.

But I am betting Best Buy will be gone in 5-10 years.

 

[Rippleman]

Where there is a will, there is a way... some ways are just harder to find then others. I am going to bet this guy knows what he is doing. If not, why bother? Why not just retire with your billions? Because for him its a passion, and with passion comes an edge. Will it succeed only on that alone? No, but it sure does help when coming to doing EVERYTHING you possibly can to make something a success.

 

[Scshadow]

I'd take the money and run. Best Buy sucks and I tell everyone I know that Best Buy sucks.

 

[avioza]

I got a good deal on my last TV at best buy, the guy even helped me load it in my car...

What they are not competitive on I will buy online. If I want something badly enough to get my hands on it immediately, I will pay the extra. It is nice to have the option, you may miss it when it's gone.

I hope he succeeds, it is better for the economy and competition helps the consumer.

 

[Gambit]

Since stores like Best Buy offer nothing to the consumer other than a showroom (face it, their employees don't know what they're selling, and can't provide any expertise for most consumers), perhaps it's time to shutter the retail operations, and take it all to the web. The playing field will level as states begin forcing the collection of sales taxes, but it's not going to help Best Buy, this year.

 

[Guest]

Best Buy has the worst customer service. I had a cable modem in my hands and wanted to ask a question. The male sales rep. was on the phone but he held up one finger to indicate he saw me. While I was standing there a female sales rep. from another department came up. As soon as she got off the phone, she told him she needed help. Without even asking what I needed, he said he was going to help her and would be right back. I set the modem down and walked out. Haven't been back since. 8 years.

The one of the things that is supposed to set a brick and mortar store apart from online stores is customer service. Best Buy has always been terrible at customer service. And unless Richard Schulze changes that, Best Buy will go under.

 

[Fbarnett]

What kind of ***** wants to buy a company that is going to go out of business, for more than the current stock value.

 

[Guest]

I am a Best Buy Employee. Perhaps I should not post this. However, I love Best Buy. It is true not every employee is trained as they should be, not every client gets served as they should be.

I will say this, as posters post about the way we do business, I assure you that change is now. Best Buy has not posted much about the change within the store but the level of excitement I have around it is HUGE. Everything that is happening is happening to improve the client experience, YOUR experience. No doubt you went unserved or underserved previously. We understand that and we are looking to have the buck stop here. We are taking FULL accountability around our training and level of expertise.

I guarantee Richard Shultz knows this and is as excited about the change as I am. To put this into perspective... I am in fact leadership within a Best Buy. Now what some of you people posted here around your experiences would not fly with me. Granted they were well before I worked for the company (Going on 4 years now) There is plenty of knowledge to be had where I work. Things are only going to get better. I will stop there and not delve too much into details

Cheers! I look forward to getting a second chance with you all! Hopefully at my location!

 

[Renrew]

@ Guest--if your store is as whacked as your post, it's lready too late.

 

[Guest]

I am not saying my store is whack. I am saying that I understand it happens, across the country. I want every interaction to be perfect. Coaching behaviors is my first priority. If I see something is going terribly wrong I always introduce myself, step in, and allow things to be corrected.

Our new OM is allowing us to really delve into the behaviors of our employees which in turn allows our clients (you) to get a better experience. One that will allow someone to pick up a router or a modem (as posted earlier) and get the questions answered accurately and swiftly.

Let's throw a hypothetical out there (totally un related to Best Buy) Let's say that you have a company that sells pocket knifes (Company A). They sell 2000 per month with a 1% failure rate on the safety catch. There is another company that sells 100 per month with a 10% failure rate on the safety catch (Company B).

The company that sells 1000 has 20 knifes with defective safety catches. The company that sells 100 has 10 that fail.

Company A has 50% more defective knives and that's all you see is that they have way more un happy clients. When in reality only 2% of their clients are un happy (Still not cool, I get it) But Company B has less bad press but serves their client a lot more inadequately.

When you're the largest, you will hear about the poor stuff more frequently (While not acceptable) it's just the nature of the beast. Know what I mean?

 

[slamscaper]

I'm all for improving Best Buy's customer service, so have at it Mr. Guest.

That said, bad customer service is not the primary reason that Best Buy is floundering. The biggest problem you're facing is that most consumers use Best Buy only to try out products they ultimately buy online (for less money).

Best Buy will simply have to start lowering their prices to compete with Amazon, Newegg, and TigerDirect.

Not only that, but they'll have to beef up their inventory as well. I can't tell you how many times I've went to Best Buy and found a product I wanted on display, yet was disappointed to find that they didn't have it in stock. Best Buy needs to be about instant gratification and great warranties. They can't achieve this if their inventory is spread so thin.