http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=945911


in reply to Re^3: Spreadsheet::WriteExcel large files (text versus binary format)
in thread Spreadsheet::WriteExcel large files

They both contain the same data. The smaller file was created by opening the large file and saving it again (hence my confusion)
It makes sense that the formulas might have been lost in the process, but it is still surprising that the size difference is so huge.