For almost two decades, Blockbuster was the go-to spot on Friday nights for families around the world. At its peak, it had 9,000 stores. However, by 2010, it had gone bankrupt. So, what happened to the video rental giant? In 1997, Reed Hastings, the future founder of a fledgling company called Netflix, went to a movie store to return the movie "Apollo 13" and was hit with a $40 late fee. This incident, among others, sparked his idea for Netflix. By 2000, when Netflix was still in its infancy, Hastings flew to Dallas to propose a partnership to Blockbuster CEO John Antioco and his team. The idea was for Netflix to run Blockbuster's brand online, while Blockbuster would promote Netflix in its stores. However, Hastings was laughed out of the room. Ten years later, Blockbuster was out of business, and Netflix is now worth over $200 billion. It's easy to wonder what Antioco was thinking, but the answer isn't that simple...
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