The latest, hottest dot-com stock has made a near-billionaire out of a 28-year-old from Moose Jaw, Sask., with the quoted value of his shares soaring $720-million in one day.
Glenn Ballman, who once failed to get approval for a Visa merchant account, is founder, president and chief executive of Seattle-based Onvia.com Inc., an on-line shopping mall for businesses. He saw his 13.5-per-cent stake in the company jump in value to $944-million yesterday after its first day of trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Mr. Ballman spent his first day as an Internet mogul making the rounds of financial TV channels in the United States, explaining investors' lust for his company's stock.
The Onvia.com site is geared to small businesses, selling goods and services ranging from office supplies to accounting and legal advice. The site also lets users buy and sell their services and request bids on contracts.
Only four years ago, before he started a one-man company out of his Vancouver home, he was working for a Vancouver Internet service provider, selling Web-site services and helping out with telemarketing.
Then he started a one-man company out of his home.
Yesterday, shares in that company nearly tripled from their opening price in heavy trading in the United States, closing at $61.50 (U.S.), a price that valued the entire company at $4.9-billion.
Onvia.com has about 350 staff, most in its Seattle headquarters. The company also maintains an operations centre in Vancouver.
Speaking from Saskatchewan last night, one of his aunts recalled the young CEO as a "friendly, easy-going" youngster with a serious streak. "When he set out to do something, he did it. He was earnest and set his own standards for things," said Cleone Ballman, a retired nurse.
An uncle, Wayne Ballman, manager of a Regina trucking company, said his nephew stood out as a scholar in high school and as a hard worker on his father's grain farm.
"Actually, Glenn suffered from a bit of hay fever -- grain dust and whatnot bothered him -- but he managed to handle it. He helped his father, yes. Anybody on a farm knows what it's like. You do what's required."
He later travelled the world, the uncle said. "He was in Australia for a while, he was in Hawaii for a while after university. You know, like most young men, he wanted to see some country. . . . He didn't have any money, of course, but you make do, eh?"
Single, Mr. Ballman lives in Seattle and usually is at work, where he is known to put in long stretches of 14-hour days. When the business was struggling in its early days in Vancouver, he lived in a shared apartment and drove what a colleague recalls as a beat-up Honda.
He is known for his persistence, which one colleague said didn't waver even after he was turned down by banks and other potential lenders. At one point couldn't get a Visa merchant account for the business.
"He always totally believed he was going to be successful," the colleague said.
Mr. Ballman told MSNBC yesterday that small businesses are set to embrace the Internet as a tool that can bring them deals once available only to large corporations, creating a market worth $107-billion this decade. "The market is absolutely huge and growing," he said.
His company, first operating as MegaDepot.com, initially focused on office supplies. It launched its first Web site in Canada in July of 1997, and added a U.S. site a year later.
In 1998, it shifted its headquarters to Seattle. So-called angel investors, wealthy individuals who back high-technology companies, backed a first round of venture financing last February, bringing the company to $11.7-million. Since then, Onvia.com has received a total of more than $71.5-million in financing.
Like many on-line ventures, Onvia is not profitable: It lost $43.4-million or $4.59 a share on sales of $27.2-million last year.
Nor does it expect to turn a profit any time soon. In its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, it reports that "we expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future."
Those losses will reflect heavy spending on marketing as it tries to establish a brand with more credibility than those of competitors, which include such U.S. companies as BizBuyer.com, Digitalwork.com and Buy.com.
In an earlier interview, Mr. Ballman said he wants to make Onvia the dominant player in its crowded sector. "I believe in global brands. We are building a $10-billion company," he said.
But even as he approaches billionaire status, a figure from his past threatens his newfound wealth. John Meier, a onetime aide to eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, is suing for half of Mr. Ballman's holdings and for half of the company, alleging he is a jilted partner.
Mr. Meier is alleging that he and Mr. Ballman were partners in developing Mega Depot Inc., but he was excluded in the subsequent development of the concept.
Neither Mr. Meier nor Mr. Ballman could be reached for comment on the lawsuit.
According to documents filed with the SEC, Mr. Ballman owns 10.6 million shares, or 13.5 per cent of the company.
Other major shareholders include U.S. venture capital backers Mohr Davidow Ventures and Internet Capital Group Inc., which own 18.4 per cent and 21.8 per cent of Onvia.com respectively.
GLEN BALLMAN'S DAY
Canadian Glen Ballman, who holds 10.6-million shares of Onvia.com, became very rich yesterday. Here's how. 1. Onvia set to go public on Nasdaq at $21 (U.S.). Mr. Ballman's stake is worth $322.4-million. 2. 11:30 a.m. Opening bid $46. Mr. Ballman is worth $702.2-million (Cdn.). 3. 1:30 p.m. Intraday high: $65.50. Mr. Ballman is worth $1-billion (Cdn.). 4. 4 p.m. Closing price: $61.50. Mr. Ballman is worth $944.2-million (Cdn.).
Wendy Stueck