Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010
Road to Palm Springs

Joe Ratterman

BATS Global Markets
Lenexa, Kansas

Newsweek once labeled Joe Ratterman and his team at BATS the “Capitalists of the Prairie.” The magazine’s cover story (September 22, 2008) endeavored to find out how a Kansas City startup managed to become the third largest US stock exchange. The writer could have gotten a clue from Ratterman’s approach to every challenge he undertakes.

For example, after going water skiing with a friend, he took up the sport with such passion that he mastered it in months rather than the years most beginners require. Similarly, he took up photography as a hobby and eventually began his own photography business.

Having accomplished that, he learned how to fly. He obtained his private pilot license and is working toward his commercial license in order to participate in Angel Flight, which provides air transportation for charitable and medical needs.

Ratterman brought this relentless focus and passion to BATS, which stands for a “Better Alternative Trading System.” He was introduced to the company in its infancy after a successful career that included a dozen years at Bridge Information Systems, where he rose in the ranks from junior developer to CTO.

Through his professional network, he met Dave Cummings, the founder of Tradebot. Ratterman took the risk of joining the small startup in 2005.

In various roles at Tradebot, Ratterman was a driving force in the development of BATS Trading, which was created in response to consolidation in the Electronic Communication Network (ECN) space.

By June 2007, he was appointed president and CEO of BATS Global Markets, and led the transition from ECN to securities exchange in October 2008. Today, approximately 1 billion shares are traded on the BATS platform.