The 2015 Tech 50: Lance Uggla

For 11 years after he founded Markit in 2003,Lance Ugglareveled in the independence of private ownership — even if his big-bank stakeholders could at times be tough bosses. But he doesn’t regret taking the IPO plunge in June 2014, raising $1.3 billion. (A year later London-based, Nasdaq–listed Markit closed a secondary offering, and its valuation was $4.6 billion.) “There’s a lot more transparency as a public company, and it’s been exciting to respond to the new benchmarks,” says Uggla, 53. “Going public gives you additional tools to work with and currency and confidence in your value proposition. It also allows you to be more attractive to potential acquisition targets.” So it has been full speed ahead, via both organic and acquired growth, for the financial data and technology services company that started out valuing credit derivatives with financing from TD Securities, where Uggla used to work. Revenue rose 12 percent last year, to $1.07 billion. In June, Markit moved to bolster its $300 million Solutions segment with an agreement to acquire corporate actions and posttrade processing company Information Mosaic. Building on its July 2014 purchase of Compliance Technologies International, Markit has launched a joint venture know-your-customer registry with business-process specialist Genpact. Markit Collaboration Services, an instant messaging alternative to Bloomberg unveiled in 2013, merged last December into the Goldman Sachs Group–led Symphony Communication Services, and Uggla remains a believer: “We’re betting on Symphony as a place to leverage our products through. We think open source is very important for the industry.”

See the full story, “The 2015 Tech 50: Racers to the Edge.”