Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> October 6, 1999
GREGORY K. JONES is President and Chief Executive Officer of uBid, Inc.,
an Internet auction company established in 1997, and was elected
Chairman of the Board in July 1998. Already one of the best-known web
sites in the country, uBid has built revenues to over $200 million
annualized, and in December of 1998 uBid went public and was the third
most successful IPO ever behind eBay and Amazon. Prior to joining uBid,
Mr. Jones was Sr. Vice President of APAC in Deerfield, IL. During his
tenure there, revenues rose from $100 million to $276 million, and the
company was both the top IPO for Merrill Lynch and the 4th fastest
growing company in the U.S. in 1996 (per Forbes magazine). Mr. Jones
also spent 5 years with Reliable Corporation of Chicago, serving first
as Vice President of MIS and New Business Development and later as
President and Chief Operating Officer of this $200 million direct mail
seller of office products. He was the architect of the company's
reorganization, repositioned the company within the industry, and
established a new marketing direction which increased sales by 18% and
gross margin by 10%. Earlier companies with which Mr. Jones was
affiliated include the Warehouse Club, Office Express, and Ernst &
Young. Mr. Jones has received many business leadership awards including
a leadership award from the state of Michigan, and the 1999 Ernst &
Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Mr. Jones is also a member of The
Executives' Club of Chicago, and the Young Executives Club, Inc. Mr.
Jones now sits on the boards of DIY Home Warehouse, ATFA (the
association of track & field athletics), and uBid. Mr. Jones received a
B.S. in Business from Miami University in 1983 and a M.M. from the J.L.
Kellogg School, Northwestern, in 1991. Profile
services, history and how you see the business today?
Mr. Jones: uBid is in the business-to-consumer auction space. We
