The Samwer brother's blitzkrieg on Silicon Valley

German brothers Marc, Alexander and Oliver Samwer have made billions from copying successful online businesses. Is their ruthlessness justified?

"You haven't arrived until your web application has a German clone," TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington observed back in 2008. Tell that to the world's largest e-commerce company, Amazon, which has become the latest target of three publicity-shy German brothers whose skill at devising 'copycat' websites has earned them billions as well as the fear and loathing of much of Silicon Valley.

Marc, Alexander and Oliver Samwer are "among Europe's most consistently successful digital entrepreneurs", says Wired. "They are also among the most controversial."

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