Martin, 30, has no idea what his stake is worth, though Fusion reported last year that his shares may be valued from $US10 million to $US20 million. The cash-and-stock sale to Wal-Mart could have doubled that since Jet's private valuation was pegged at around $US1.5 billion last November, but the company has also raised money since Martin won his shares.

That could have reduced the value of his stake because startups sometimes give preferential shares to later-term investors that can squeeze out smaller investors or employees. Martin, who four years ago ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives as a Republican candidate and says on his LinkedIn profile he has "an understanding of business on many levels", said he's still waiting for Jet to tell him how much his stake is worth, but he's hoping it's in the "multi-millions."

Wal-Mart's purchase gives the world's largest retailer a way to boost its online offering and better compete with Jeff Bezos' e-commerce giant Amazon.com. Jet's founder, Marc Lore, worked at Amazon for about two years after selling his previous company to the online retail behemoth. He founded Jet as a members-only online retailer, aiming to cut prices below even what Amazon could offer. He's raised more than $US500 million in venture capital.

While he waits to find out exactly how rich he is, Martin is thinking about his own startup, Ideadash.com, an online portal that lets people post their ideas for inventions or businesses and get others to execute on them while retaining a stake in the project.

"I'm weighing my options," he said. "I've got to take time to process all this."