|
COPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News
By John Stamper, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jun. 30--A year after Arthur Andersen accountants shoved him off the bow of his fast-sinking Internet company, Charles "Junior" Johnson is back in his old Las Vegas office.
The maverick businessman -- a survivor of Wall Street ridicule, class-action lawsuits and loan defaults -- now swivels in a familiar chair. And when the Lexington native and former basketball star visits his sister in Kentucky, it's in the same private jet he used as chairman and CEO of PurchasePro.com.
But instead of marketing e-commerce Web sites to small businesses, Johnson now sells phone service.
With the same Teflon confidence he displayed as point guard of Lafayette High's 1979 state championship team, Johnson founded an Amway-like business in April that uses thousands of "independent representatives" to sell unlimited local and long distance phone service for $49.99 a month.
He touts the company's offering as "the end of long distance," and a list of high-profile sports figures and businessmen -- from Portland Trailblazers big man Dale Davis to University of Louisville assistant men's basketball coach Vince Taylor -- are backing the firm, called NEXX.
Skeptics suggest Johnson's new venture totters on a fine line of legality that separates multilevel marketing companies from so-called pyramid schemes. But Johnson and his attorneys insist that NEXX is completely legal.
As for PurchasePro, Johnson has harsh words for the once high-flying Internet company, now a shadow of the mushrooming firm he took public in 1999. As one of the 10 best performing initial public offerings on Wall Street that year, PurchasePro made hundreds of millions of dollars for a handful of Lexington investors.
"When I left they didn't do any...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
