The Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) has raised $100 million from a member of the Walton Family, a relative of Sam Walton who founded the ubiquitous Wal-mart stores. According to a report in WSJ.com, James Walton, the grandson of Sam Walton, has partnered with the Space Between venture fund to back the exchange.
LTSE was approved to operate as an exchange by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2019. The following year, LTSE opened for trading.
LTSE is the creation of CEO Eric Ries aiming to take a new approach to investing. The company is focused on five principles with a strategy of focusing on the long term. According to the exchange, the goal is to support a “broad group of stakeholders, measure success in years and decades, align compensation of executives and directors with long-term performance, engage directors in long-term strategy (and grant them explicit oversight of this strategy), and engage long-term shareholders.”
The report states that while the mission may be admirable, LTSE has struggled to get firms to list their shares with them – the first two being Asana and Twilio. LTSE must compete with the two largest exchanges in the US – the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
While it is rare for a new exchange to gain approval, not too long ago BSTX, a joint venture between BOX Digital Markets, LLC and tZERO, gained approval to operate as an exchange. The goal is to incorporate blockchain technology into the trading platform.
LTSE hopes to encourage other firms to trade shares on the exchange by keeping things simple or “Very Simple Market” along with being the only exchange with a “free model.”
