Lewis Gerstner

An insurance industry veteran who collaborated with Lewis Gerstner on a technological overhaul of American Express , Co. ( before Gerstner took the top job at IBM Corp. ) , Lewis presided over a $100 million investment program that last year shored up Ameritrade's back office and dramatically raised its level of automation.As a result , its clearing and transaction costs are the lowest in the business.Now 68 percent of incoming calls are handled without human intervention ; this has cut the percentage of transactions handled by registered representatives from 14 percent to almost none in the last quarter and reduced the cost of processing a trade by about one quarter in the last year.

Operating out of Omaha doesn't hurt this cause.The company built its main call center in a nondescript shopping mall where it pays $3.35 per square foot for space formerly occupied by a Younkers department store.The frugality extended to an Ameritrade company picnic last month-employees had to pay $5 to attend.
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The American consumer wants a bank in their backyard ; with insurance they want a deal ; with a mortgage they want a good rate , Lewis said in his preresignation interview.Ameritrade does not have this misguided belief in world domination of online financial services.We're here to be profitable quarter after quarter..

As trading volume slumped in the June quarter-the third quarter of Ameritrade's fiscal year-analysts were warning that undiversified Ameritrade would almost certainly lose money.It didn't.The company earned $4.6 million , or 3 cents per share , even after spending a hefty $41 million on the ubiquitous advertising that includes commercials with trader-hipster Stuart and his multihued hair.
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New York headhunter Jay Gaines introduced him to Lewis.
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Lewis had fixed difficult situations before.He was head of technology for the White House during the Reagan administration and had been a key player in revamping the technology infrastructure of Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. in the mid-1980s.After his stint with Gerstner at American Express , he worked on another technological overhaul , at the troubled insurance company USF&G , now part of St. Paul Cos.
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I said , ‘I don't want to run technology now , recalled Lewis.And I'm not interested in moving to Omaha..But he had another proposition for Ricketts.I said , ‘You could give me your job.'.

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Lewis joined in March 1999 and dived into fixing the tech problems.He recruited former USF&G colleague Ditmore and scores of others from previous postings to establish an advanced technology center in Annapolis Junction , Maryland , an easier place than Omaha to hire technical people.
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Ricketts , who views technology as the key to the firm's competitive advantage , gives Lewis all the credit.
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Seventy-five senior technologists worked for Lewis in the past.

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We're going to have banking through NetBank , but we didn't pay $1.8 billion for it , said Lewis , aiming a verbal dagger at E * Trade and its Telebanc acquisition.Banking is a zero-margin business with no brand..

As long as customers don't object , and some other company handles the up-front and processing costs , Ameritrade seems eager to experiment with a range of products.A financial education certification program is being considered , and before his departure , Lewis , citing the merchandising success of American Express , was even examining the possibility of selling nonfinancial products-from Palm personal organizers to luggage.The executives who have been cautious about expanding overseas may soon test those waters , too.They hint that they are actively seeking a partner to help Ameritrade break into the Asian market.
...
Lewis was a harsh and vocal E * Trade critic , asserting that his competitor's rhetoric didn't match its accomplishments.I hope I am around to dance on their grave , he said before is resignation.

An insurance industry veteran who collaborated with Lewis Gerstner on a technological overhaul of American Express, Co. (before Gerstner took the top job at IBM Corp.), Lewis presided over a $100 million investment program that last year shored up Ameritrade's back office and dramatically raised its level of automation.As a result, its clearing and transaction costs are the lowest in the business.Now 68 percent of incoming calls are handled without human intervention; this has cut the percentage of transactions handled by registered representatives from 14 percent to almost none in the last quarter and reduced the cost of processing a trade by about one quarter in the last year.

Operating out of Omaha doesn't hurt this cause.The company built its main call center in a nondescript shopping mall where it pays $3.35 per square foot for space formerly occupied by a Younkers department store.The frugality extended to an Ameritrade company picnic last month-employees had to pay $5 to attend.
...
"The American consumer wants a bank in their backyard; with insurance they want a deal; with a mortgage they want a good rate," Lewis said in his preresignation interview."Ameritrade does not have this misguided belief in world domination of online financial services.We're here to be profitable quarter after quarter."

As trading volume slumped in the June quarter-the third quarter of Ameritrade's fiscal year-analysts were warning that undiversified Ameritrade would almost certainly lose money.It didn't.The company earned $4.6 million, or 3 cents per share, even after spending a hefty $41 million on the ubiquitous advertising that includes commercials with trader-hipster Stuart and his multihued hair.
...
New York headhunter Jay Gaines introduced him to Lewis.
...
Lewis had fixed difficult situations before.He was head of technology for the White House during the Reagan administration and had been a key player in revamping the technology infrastructure of Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. in the mid-1980s.After his stint with Gerstner at American Express, he worked on another technological overhaul, at the troubled insurance company USF&G, now part of St. Paul Cos.
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Ricketts and Lewis hit it off, but Lewis, at that time president of TenFold Insurance Systems Group and considering his own start-up, wasn't interested in yet another rebuilding job."I said, ‘I don't want to run technology now," recalled Lewis."And I'm not interested in moving to Omaha."But he had another proposition for Ricketts."I said, ‘You could give me your job.'"

Ricketts soon agreed, with a few conditions.He and Lewis would be co-CEOs for a year, after which Ricketts would become chairman and concentrate on strategic issues.
...
Lewis joined in March 1999 and dived into fixing the tech problems.He recruited former USF&G colleague Ditmore and scores of others from previous postings to establish an advanced technology center in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, an easier place than Omaha to hire technical people.
...
Ricketts, who views technology as the key to the firm's competitive advantage, gives Lewis all the credit.
...
Seventy-five senior technologists worked for Lewis in the past.

...
"We're going to have banking through NetBank, but we didn't pay $1.8 billion for it," said Lewis, aiming a verbal dagger at E*Trade and its Telebanc acquisition."Banking is a zero-margin business with no brand."

As long as customers don't object, and some other company handles the up-front and processing costs, Ameritrade seems eager to experiment with a range of products.A financial education certification program is being considered, and before his departure, Lewis, citing the merchandising success of American Express, was even examining the possibility of selling nonfinancial products-from Palm personal organizers to luggage.The executives who have been cautious about expanding overseas may soon test those waters, too.They hint that they are actively seeking a partner to help Ameritrade break into the Asian market.

...
Lewis was a harsh and vocal E*Trade critic, asserting that his competitor's rhetoric didn't match its accomplishments."I hope I am around to dance on their grave," he said before is resignation.
...
Lewis's resignation has set off more talk about a possible sale.Rumors surfaced that American Express, which held merger talks with E*Trade, might be in talks to buy Ameritrade.

An insurance industry veteran who collaborated with Lewis Gerstner on a technological overhaul of American Express , Co. ( before Gerstner took the top job at IBM Corp. ) , Lewis presided over a $ 100 million investment program that last year shored up Ameritrade's back office and dramatically raised its level of automation.As a result , its clearing and transaction costs are the lowest in the business.Now 68 percent of incoming calls are handled without human intervention ; this has cut the percentage of transactions handled by registered representatives from 14 percent to almost none in the last quarter and reduced the cost of processing a trade by about one quarter in the last year.

Operating out of Omaha doesn't hurt this cause.The company built its main call center in a nondescript shopping mall where it pays $ 3.35 per square foot for space formerly occupied by a Younkers department store.The frugality extended to an Ameritrade company picnic last month-employees had to pay $ 5 to attend.
...
New York headhunter Jay Gaines introduced him to Lewis.

Lewis had fixed difficult situations before.He was head of technology for the White House during the Reagan administration and had been a key player in revamping the technology infrastructure of Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. in the mid-1980s.After his stint with Gerstner at American Express , he worked on another technological overhaul , at the troubled insurance company USF&G , now part of St. Paul Cos.
...
I said , ‘I don't want to run technology now , recalled Lewis.And I'm not interested in moving to Omaha. But he had another proposition for Ricketts.I said , ‘You could give me your job.'.

...
Lewis joined in March 1999 and dived into fixing the tech problems.He recruited former USF&G colleague Ditmore and scores of others from previous postings to establish an advanced technology center in Annapolis Junction , Maryland , an easier place than Omaha to hire technical people.
...
Ricketts , who views technology as the key to the firm's competitive advantage , gives Lewis all the credit.
...
Seventy-five senior technologists worked for Lewis in the past.

...
We're going to have banking through NetBank , but we didn't pay $ 1.8 billion for it , said Lewis , aiming a verbal dagger at E * Trade and its Telebanc acquisition.Banking is a zero-margin business with no brand..

As long as customers don't object , and some other company handles the up-front and processing costs , Ameritrade seems eager to experiment with a range of products.A financial education certification program is being considered , and before his departure , Lewis , citing the merchandising success of American Express , was even examining the possibility of selling nonfinancial products-from Palm personal organizers to luggage.The executives who have been cautious about expanding overseas may soon test those waters , too.They hint that they are actively seeking a partner to help Ameritrade break into the Asian market.
...
Lewis was a harsh and vocal E * Trade critic , asserting that his competitor's rhetoric didn't match its accomplishments.I hope I am around to dance on their grave , he said before is resignation.

An insurance industry veteran who collaborated with Lewis Gerstner on a technological overhaul of American Express, Co. (before Gerstner took the top job at IBM Corp.), Lewis presided over a $ 100 million investment program that last year shored up Ameritrade's back office and dramatically raised its level of automation.As a result, its clearing and transaction costs are the lowest in the business.Now 68 percent of incoming calls are handled without human intervention ; this has cut the percentage of transactions handled by registered representatives from 14 percent to almost none in the last quarter and reduced the cost of processing a trade by about one quarter in the last year.

Operating out of Omaha doesn't hurt this cause.The company built its main call center in a nondescript shopping mall where it pays $ 3.35 per square foot for space formerly occupied by a Younkers department store.The frugality extended to an Ameritrade company picnic last month-employees had to pay $ 5 to attend.
...
New York headhunter Jay Gaines introduced him to Lewis.

Lewis had fixed difficult situations before.He was head of technology for the White House during the Reagan administration and had been a key player in revamping the technology infrastructure of Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. in the mid-1980s.After his stint with Gerstner at American Express, he worked on another technological overhaul, at the troubled insurance company USF&G, now part of St. Paul Cos.
...
I said, ‘I don't want to run technology now, recalled Lewis.And I'm not interested in moving to Omaha. But he had another proposition for Ricketts.I said, ‘You could give me your job.'.

...
Lewis joined in March 1999 and dived into fixing the tech problems.He recruited former USF&G colleague Ditmore and scores of others from previous postings to establish an advanced technology center in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, an easier place than Omaha to hire technical people.
...
Ricketts, who views technology as the key to the firm's competitive advantage, gives Lewis all the credit.
...
Seventy-five senior technologists worked for Lewis in the past.

...
We're going to have banking through NetBank, but we didn't pay $ 1.8 billion for it, said Lewis, aiming a verbal dagger at E * Trade and its Telebanc acquisition.Banking is a zero-margin business with no brand..

As long as customers don't object, and some other company handles the up-front and processing costs, Ameritrade seems eager to experiment with a range of products.A financial education certification program is being considered, and before his departure, Lewis, citing the merchandising success of American Express, was even examining the possibility of selling nonfinancial products-from Palm personal organizers to luggage.The executives who have been cautious about expanding overseas may soon test those waters, too.They hint that they are actively seeking a partner to help Ameritrade break into the Asian market.
...
Lewis was a harsh and vocal E * Trade critic, asserting that his competitor's rhetoric didn't match its accomplishments.I hope I am around to dance on their grave, he said before is resignation.