Best Buy has had a rather tumultuous year. So it perhaps comes as no surprise to hear, from the Wall Street Journal, that its founder Richard Schulze is planning to try and take the company private.
Schulze currently holds a 20 percent share of Best Buy, and is presumably rather worried that, if he doesn’t do something drastic, the value of his holdings will drop through the floor. That’s what you get when your CEO sleeps with your employees.
The Journal suggests that Schulze is thinking of buying out the company as a solution. That, however, isn’t the easiest thing in the world to acheive. Best Buy’s value sits at somewhere around $8 billion, and the Journal suggests that only an offer of around $11 billion would stand a chance of securing Schulze the company. Big. Bucks.
On its current trajectory Best Buy looks set to decline, which can come to no good for consumers. Perhaps a successful buyout by Schulze might make it relevant again. [Wall Street Journal]
