Chapter 7: Taking the Company Public Summary and Analysis

Ever since Sam took out his first bank loan, he has not been comfortable or happy with debt. However, with all the store additions for Wal-Mart, Sam and his family are now well immersed in a pile of debt from a variety of different banks. In fact, Sam buys a little bank in Bentonville in order to better understand the lending process and banking industry overall. However, Sam is more than a few millions dollars in debt and he worries that if any of those banks cashed in their notes, he would be financially ruined.

The idea of going public is brought up by Mike Smith who works for Jack Stephens, the man who successfully operates the shopping center that Sam failed at years before. Mike plants the seed in Sam's head and...