Commerce One Snags FedEx Exec

Pleasanton, Calif.-based B2B e-commerce software provider Commerce One Inc. appointed Dennis H. Jones, former executive vice president of information technology and chief information officer for FedEx Corp., as its chief operating officer and vice chairman of the board.

The market apparently liked the news, sending Commerce One stock up 17 percent or $1.14 to $7.80 in mid-day trading.

Jones, who was at FedEx for 25 years, is credited with leading such technology initiatives as Web-based package processing and shipment tracking. He also sat on the company's five-person executive team responsible for the strategic direction of the company.

During Jones' tenure at FedEx, the company grew from 2,000 employees and $30 million in revenues to more than 200,000 employees and $20 billion in global revenues.

Jones, 48, will report directly to Mark Hoffman, Commerce One chief executive officer and chairman of the board, and will be responsible for the company's engineering, marketing, financial, legal and administrative operations.

Jones is taking over COO responsibilities from Robert Kimmitt, who will remain with Commerce One as president.

Shares of both Commerce One and rival Ariba Inc. have fallen about 80 percent in the past two months because investors have worried about the outlook for sales at both companies. Last week Commerce One said that it had a first-quarter loss excluding certain charges of 11 cents a share. A 6-cent loss was the average forecast of analysts.

Ariba's second quarter, meanwhile, was in the near melt-down category: instead of a nickel in earnings for the second quarter, a loss of 20 cents and a one-third cut in the workforce.