TULSA, OK (January 22, 2009) - In June of 1999, the Justice Department brought the largest, best-trained and most efficient debt-collection operation in the world, Commercial Financial Services, Inc. (CFS), founded by Bill Bartmann, to its demise. However, although Bill Bartmann had lost his company, he had not lost his faith. As Wall Street panicked, lawsuits and allegations rained down on Bartmann, the man who Inc. magazine once said had "remade one of the ugliest industries" and who Fortune magazine said had put a "seedy and inefficient industry on the road to respectability." In December 2003, after eight weeks of testimony from 53 prosecution witnesses, Bartmann was acquitted of the 57-count indictment brought against him in the post-Enron era by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. There was no evidence of wrongdoing found.
CFS had made its name on its ability to buy delinquent credit card accounts for pennies on the dollar, and then produce nickels, dimes and quarters-an ability the firm eventually took to Wall Street. The accolades and praise for the company never seemed to end: BusinessWeek named it "One of the Top Ten Family Oriented Businesses in the U.S." while Working Woman said it was one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers." Inc. magazine called it one of the "500 Fastest Growing Companies in America" for four straight years and the Better Business Bureau gave it the Torch Award for Ethics in the Marketplace.
Besides amassing a personal fortune, estimated by Inc. to be as high as $3.5 billion, Bartmann was named as one of Forbes' "400 Wealthiest People in America," and the National Entrepreneur of the Year by NASDAQ. He was also awarded a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of American History, for "Visionary Use of Information Technology" that produces positive social, economic and educational change.
Ironically, 17 months after Bartmann's acquittal and six-and-a-half years after his company was liquidated, the federal bankruptcy trustee (appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to liquidate the company, forcing Bartmann into personal bankruptcy) issued a report that publicly acknowledged for the first time that, "CFS was not a fraud." Four independent expert witnesses hired by the trustee in the civil proceedings later confirmed this report.
Today, Bartmann just shrugs off the experience that would have embittered most people, and instead is thrilled to have a second opportunity to buy bad debt. This time, however, he is also teaching others what he learned from turning CFS into an empire. (CFS was the first firm of its kind and, to date, remains the most successful debt-collection agency on record).
As Bartmann says, "I have seen this movie before and I know how to write the ending. Not only was it incredibly profitable, but we changed the way debt was collected in this country. Compassion was never a part of the equation before. While the process of debt collection is obviously more complicated than simply being nice to those suffering, the business model can be extremely lucrative for those who know how to buy the debt."
He adds, "The market was terribly inefficient then and it still is now, and there's a giant spread to be made." History has documented that he was correct: CFS typically collected more than three times what it paid for a bad loan, pocketing an average of 35¢ on every dollar of debt. Those numbers had never been hit before in the history of the industry-nor have they since.
Now Bartmann is prepared to do it again, teaching others along the way.
For more information and a seminar schedule, go to www.billbartmann.com.
About Bill Bartmann:
Bill Bartmann is the "Billionaire Business Coach." He is the only self-made billionaire who has devoted his life exclusively to teaching others, and is the leading authority on entrepreneurship in America. He has created seven successful businesses in seven different industries, including a $3.5-billion, 3,900-employee international company that he started from his kitchen table with a $13,000 loan. He has been named National Entrepreneur of the Year by NASDAQ, USA Today, Merrill Lynch and the Kauffman Foundation. One of his companies was named in Inc. magazine's "500 Fastest-Growing Companies in America" for four years in a row. He has been awarded a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of American History and has also been awarded the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award for being one of the Outstanding Achievers of the 20th Century.
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Bill Bartmann is available for interview.
Press passes to seminars are available upon request.
CFS had made its name on its ability to buy delinquent credit card accounts for pennies on the dollar, and then produce nickels, dimes and quarters-an ability the firm eventually took to Wall Street. The accolades and praise for the company never seemed to end: BusinessWeek named it "One of the Top Ten Family Oriented Businesses in the U.S." while Working Woman said it was one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers." Inc. magazine called it one of the "500 Fastest Growing Companies in America" for four straight years and the Better Business Bureau gave it the Torch Award for Ethics in the Marketplace.
Besides amassing a personal fortune, estimated by Inc. to be as high as $3.5 billion, Bartmann was named as one of Forbes' "400 Wealthiest People in America," and the National Entrepreneur of the Year by NASDAQ. He was also awarded a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of American History, for "Visionary Use of Information Technology" that produces positive social, economic and educational change.
Ironically, 17 months after Bartmann's acquittal and six-and-a-half years after his company was liquidated, the federal bankruptcy trustee (appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to liquidate the company, forcing Bartmann into personal bankruptcy) issued a report that publicly acknowledged for the first time that, "CFS was not a fraud." Four independent expert witnesses hired by the trustee in the civil proceedings later confirmed this report.
Today, Bartmann just shrugs off the experience that would have embittered most people, and instead is thrilled to have a second opportunity to buy bad debt. This time, however, he is also teaching others what he learned from turning CFS into an empire. (CFS was the first firm of its kind and, to date, remains the most successful debt-collection agency on record).
As Bartmann says, "I have seen this movie before and I know how to write the ending. Not only was it incredibly profitable, but we changed the way debt was collected in this country. Compassion was never a part of the equation before. While the process of debt collection is obviously more complicated than simply being nice to those suffering, the business model can be extremely lucrative for those who know how to buy the debt."
He adds, "The market was terribly inefficient then and it still is now, and there's a giant spread to be made." History has documented that he was correct: CFS typically collected more than three times what it paid for a bad loan, pocketing an average of 35¢ on every dollar of debt. Those numbers had never been hit before in the history of the industry-nor have they since.
Now Bartmann is prepared to do it again, teaching others along the way.
For more information and a seminar schedule, go to www.billbartmann.com.
About Bill Bartmann:
Bill Bartmann is the "Billionaire Business Coach." He is the only self-made billionaire who has devoted his life exclusively to teaching others, and is the leading authority on entrepreneurship in America. He has created seven successful businesses in seven different industries, including a $3.5-billion, 3,900-employee international company that he started from his kitchen table with a $13,000 loan. He has been named National Entrepreneur of the Year by NASDAQ, USA Today, Merrill Lynch and the Kauffman Foundation. One of his companies was named in Inc. magazine's "500 Fastest-Growing Companies in America" for four years in a row. He has been awarded a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of American History and has also been awarded the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award for being one of the Outstanding Achievers of the 20th Century.
###
Bill Bartmann is available for interview.
Press passes to seminars are available upon request.