Joe Ratterman

BATS Exchange, which began life in 2005 as an electronic communications network, has a solid 9 to 10 percent share of the U.S. equities market, vying with Direct Edge (see William O’Brien, No. 17) for third place behind the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. But to Joe Ratterman, CEO of the exchange and its Kansas City, Missouri–based parent, BATS Global Markets, this was never the only part of the world for the upstart to conquer.

Through the two-year-old BATS Europe multilateral trading facility, the company has captured more than 10 percent of FTSE 100 trading and 5 percent of pan-European markets overall. BATS thereby claims the No. 3 spot in the world, ahead of leading exchanges in Shanghai, Tokyo and London, based on value of shares traded. That reflects Europeans’ desire for alternatives to incumbent exchanges, says Ratterman, 44, who has been at the helm since his co-founder, David Cummings, stepped aside as CEO three years ago.

Back home, the company has been augmenting its data product offerings; began a phased launch of the BATS Options platform in February, aiming for a 3 to 5 percent market share this year; and is starting another U.S. equities exchange, BYX, this summer. “A second equities platform will give us the ability to offer customers a different price point than on our core platform,” Ratterman explains.

Return to the 2010 Tech 40 Index