Student sells Web site to competitor

Debtforsale.com, an online secondary debt marketplace owned and operated by junior Ryan Pfenninger, joined the growing ranks of consolidating Internet businesses when it was sold last week to its competitor e-debt.com.\nThe joint company will retain the name of e-debt.com, and Pfenninger, a computer information systems and business major, will be a co-owner.\nAll of Pfenninger's stock in his company was purchased in exchange for stock in e-debt. The value of the stock transaction remains undisclosed. In the past, neither of the companies have had their stock available on a public exchange, but Pfenninger said within the year they plan on going public.\n"We aim on being a billion dollar company," he said. "Not a $100 million or $500 million. One billion."\nThe company has accumulated value since it was founded June 19. Debts including those accumulated from credit cards, loans and judgements are available for sale on the Web site. There are 40 different portfolios available at a total value of over one billion dollars.\nThat doesn't translate into direct money for the company. The company makes its profit by charging a one percent commission on every transaction, Pfenninger said.\nWith the consolidation of the two companies, Pfenninger said big name businesses such as CitiBank, Chase Manhattan, Bank of America, Key Bank and others will sell their debts on the new Web site.\n"We've gotten a lot of the big guys, and the small guys," Pfenninger said. "We are definitely the number one online marketplace for debts now."\nPfenninger now works with 18 other employees out of the Akron, Ohio based e-debt.com office. He is remaining in school to finish his business and computer information systems degrees.\n"As much as I enjoy working for the company, there's a certain degree of value that's added by having a degree from the IU business school," he said. "I get a lot out of it, I enjoy what I'm doing and I have met a lot of great people"