I'm pretty sure Sam Walton didn't establish Walmart with the hope of being acquired.

It's bizarre that we live in a time where we can't even fathom a business that is fundamentally very profitable, we just envision growing the company until it's attractive enough for someone else to take on the unsustainable cost of running the business: either get acquired by a large company or hoist your debt onto the public market.

Investment really did used to be about more than a complex "greater fool" game.