BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : SEPTEMBER 27, 1999 ISSUE
COVER STORY -- E.BIZ -- THE E.BIZ 25 Christos M. Cotsakos CHRISTOS M. COTSAKOS E*TRADE GROUP INC. Position: Chairman, CEO Contribution: Made Internet trading hip with outrageous ads and got the attention of Wall Street's giants--forcing them to concoct their own Web schemes. Ambition: To build a financial powerhouse on the Net to match the breadth and influence of mighty Citigroup's brick-and-mortar operations. E*Trade Group Inc. (EGRP) is only the second-largest Web trading company. But you wouldn't know it from the stir whipped up by its hyperactive CEO, Christos M. Cotsakos. His in-your-face, ''Boot your broker'' ads made online trading seem ultrahip after Cotsakos arrived in 1996. That was the wake-up call that sent traditional Wall Street firms tearing up old business plans and reaching for the Tums. He's not letting up, either: E*Trade recently began offering after-hours trading and lowered prices for active traders. And now, it's spending $150 million on a new round of ads. That's just a hint of Cotsakos' blinding ambition. Now, he plans to build an online financial-services empire to rival anything on the Street. Brokerage offerings formed the first building block--letting consumers buy stocks for as little as $4.95 a trade. He's adding online banking and loans and, through partners, insurance, mortgages, and even the ability to buy IPO stocks. For managing all aspects of individual investors' money, ''we'll be the one place you bookmark'' on your browser, vows Cotsakos. E*Trade can't depend on day traders to pump up its businesses. That's why Cotsakos, 51, is trying to attract the mass of consumers who can't quite bring themselves to use a mouse to buy stocks. That hurdle is ''all about clickophobia,'' says Cotsakos. ''If only we could get people to understand that all the databases of the world won't crash and that your information won't be lost when you send through a trade.'' To combat such fears, E*Trade has a new series of ads to calm nerves. If he can get the message through, he'll be on his way to building a powerhouse that will have Wall Streeters using Pepto-Bismol as a chaser for those Tums. By Louise Lee _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS The e.biz 25: Masters of the Web Universe COVER IMAGE: The e.biz 25 Commentary: The Great Equalizer? Not by a Long Shot TABLE: Who's Lagging in the Net Age [empire builders] Jeffrey P. Bezos AMAZON.COM INC. Stephen M. Case AMERICA ONLINE INC. Timothy A. Koogle YAHOO! INC. [the innovators] Louis H. Borders WEBVAN GROUP INC. Jay S. Walker PRICELINE.COM Margaret C. Whitman EBAY INC. Glen Meakem FREE MARKETS ONLINE INC. James H. Clark MYCFO INC. Christos M. Cotsakos E*TRADE GROUP INC. [bankrollers] Masayoshi Son SOFTBANK CORP., JAPAN Robert C. Kagle BENCHMARK CAPITAL Lawton W. Fitt GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. L. John Doerr KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS   Bernard Arnault LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON   [the visionaries] Mary G. Meeker MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER John Hagel III MCKINSEY & CO. William Joy SUN MICROSYSTEMS [the architects] Louis V. Gerstner Jr. IBM CORP. Pehong Chen BROADVISION INC. David C. Peterschmidt INKTOMI INC. Kevin J. O'Connor DOUBLECLICK Ellen M. Hancock EXODUS COMMUNICATIONS [the pace setters] David S. Pottruck CHARLES SCHWAB CORP. John T. Chambers CISCO SYSTEMS Michael S. Dell DELL COMPUTER INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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