Netflix offered to sell to Blockbuster in 2000 but Blockbuster refused

This is another example of a company being stuck in the present and not thinking about the future. Back in 2000, Blockbuster was offered the chance to buy a young up and coming DVD rental business called Netflix for as little as $50 million but Blockbuster CEO John Antioco refused. In fact, the story goes that he basically "laughed" them out of his office and called them a "niche" business that would never compete with Blockbuster. In 2010, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy with over $900 million in debt while in 2020, Netflix has over 180 million subscribers around the world and is worth over $170 billion. Doesn't look like such a niche business to us.