A vertical electronic marketplace (EM) is an inter-organizational intermediary within a single industry that enables participating buyers and sellers to exchange information about price and product offerings and to cooperate on commodity exchange. Using a Relational View (RV) perspective, this paper develops theoretical arguments that explain the impact of ownership on the likelihood of vEM survival. With a survival analysis, this paper provides empirical support for the theoretical arguments using data collected on 159 vEMs across six industries. The paper found that EM ownerships with industry ties will have higher survival rates than those without.