Deals
The Accidental Millionaire in Jet.com’s Sale to Wal-Mart
- Eric Martin won a competition last year to sign up subscribers
- Windfall could be $20 million after $18,000 investment
Meet Jet.com's Accidental Millionaire
This article is for subscribers only.
Working at a startup that gets acquired can feel like winning the lottery. Not working at a startup, but still cashing in on its acquisition, can feel pretty good too, as Eric Martin learned when Jet.com Inc. sold to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in a $3.3 billion deal.
Martin, who works for a custom bath installation company, received 100,000 Jet shares last year when he won a contest to see who could get the most people to sign up for memberships to the online shopping site. He spent $18,000 on online ads and came away with a stake now worth millions in one of 2015’s buzziest startups.