What are the most expensive domain names of all time? On a quiet weekend back in October of 2008, I logged onto Godaddy.com and purchased the domain name "celebnetworth.com" for $11.89. The idea came to me on a Sunday night while I was watching an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I remember googling "Larry David net worth" and being very frustrated that there weren't any sites that gave a quality answer to that question. So on a whim I fired up Godaddy and tried to purchase "celebritynetworth.com" but it wasn't available, so I settled on the abbreviated "celebnetworth.com". Little did I know at the time, but this simple five minute brainstorm would change my life in just a few short years.
The domain "celebnetworth.com" went unused in my Godaddy account for years because I was too busy working a full time job to think about starting a side project in my free time. Eventually I did throw together a cheap design and began adding articles to celebnetworth at night and on weekends. After six months of following this routine I decided I couldn't move forward without owning the full un-abbreviated domain "celebritynetworth.com". One night after work, I contacted the owner and offered him $50. He replied within minutes and demanded $5000. I upped my offer to $200. He replied with $2500. After exchanging about 10 emails we finally settled on $1000, which was more than half of all the money I had in the world at the time. Fast forward a few years and that $1000 would become the best investment I've ever made in my life. Running CelebrityNetWorth.com eventually allowed me to quit my job and become my own boss which is a truly priceless feeling. And it all came from an $11 brainstorm during Curb Your Enthusiasm. Pretty…pretty…pretty…awesome! This is the hideously ugly first version of CelebNetWorth.com (click to enlarge):
CelebNetWorth Version 1.0
While $1000 for a domain was all the money in the world to me, it doesn't come anywhere close to fortunes some people have spent on domains in the past. As the internet has expanded, 99% of the most desirable domain names have been scooped up by big time investors and individuals around the world. There are even Wall Street hedge funds and private equity firms that have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire vast portfolios of thousands of valuable domain names. The most valuable domain names are short, easy to spell/pronounce and somewhat related to commerce. Not surprisingly, some of the most expensive domain names of all time are also related to the porn industry. But what exactly are the largest domain name sales of all time? Below is a list of all the top known domain sales ever. There may be some private sales that the world will never find out about…
The Most Expensive Domain Names Of All Time:
- #1: Insure.com – $16 million in 2009 by online marketing firm Quin Street
- #2: Sex.com – $14 million in 2006 by Escom LLC. Escom eventually lost the domain to Clover Holdings in foreclosure. Clover paid $11.5 million
- #3: Hotels.com – $11 million
- #4: Fund.com – $9.999 in 2008 million
- #5: Porn.com – $9.5 million in 2007
- #6: Fb.com by Facebook for $8.5 million in November 2010
- #7: Business.com – $7.5 million in December 1999. Originally purchased by two brothers for $163,000 right before the dotcom bubble burst
- #8: Diamond.com – $7.5 million
- #9: Beer.com – $7 million
- #10: Israel.com – $5.88 million
- #11: Casino.com – $5.5 million
- #12: Slots.com – $5.5 million
- #13: AsSeenOnTV.com – $5.1 million in 2000
- #14: Toys.com – Bought at auction by Toys 'R' Us for $5.1 million in 2009
- #15: SEO.com – $5 million in 2007
- #16: Korea.com – $5 million
- #17: Clothes.com – $4.9 million
- #18: iCloud.com – Bought by Apple for $4.5 million in April 2011
- #19: GiftCard.com – Bought by CardLab for $4 million in October 2012
- #20: Freeport.com – $4 million
- #21: FreePorn.com – $4 million in 2008
- #22: Shop.com – $3.5 million
- #23: YP.com – $3.85 million
- #24: AltaVista.com – $3.3 million in August 1998
- #25: Software.com – $3.2 million
- #26: Wine.com – $3 million
- #27: Loans.com – $3 million
- #28: Vodka.com – $3 million in 2006
- #29: Candy.com – $3.0 million in June 2009
- #30: Shopping.de – $2.858 million
- #31: CreditCards.com – $2.75 million
- #32: Pizza.com – $2.605 million
- #33: Social.com – $2.6 million
- #34: Tom.com – $2.5 million
- #35: Gambling.com – $2.5 million in 2005
- #36: Investing.com – $2.45 million
- #37: Coupons.com – $2.2 million
- #38: Computer.com – $2.1 million
- #39: England.com – $2 million
- #40: Express.com – $2 million
- #41: Telephone.com – $2 million
- #42: Savings.com – $1.9 million
- #43: Mortgage.com – $1.8 million
- #44: Seniors.com – $1.8 million
- #45: Fly.com – $1.76 million
- #46: Dating.com – $1.75 million
- #47: Auction.com – $1.7 million
- #48: DataRecovery.com – $1.659 million
- #49: Branson.com – $1.6 million
- #50: Ticket.com – $1.525 million
- #51: MarketingToday.com – $1.5 million
- #52: Cameras.com – $1.5 million
- #53: Russia.com – $1.5 million
- #54: Tandberg.com – $1.5 million
- #55: PersonalLoans.com – $1 million
- #56: DomainName.com – $1 million
- #57: WallStreet.com – $1 million
- #58: Aktien.de ("stocks" in German) – $725 thousand
- #59: Vu.com – $700 thousand
- #60: RunningShoes.com – $700 thousand
- #61: Answer.com – $550 thousand
- #62: 11.com – $525 thousand
- #63: Puzzle.com – $500 thousand
- #64: GamesForGirls.com – $500 thousand
- #65: Gay.xxx – $500 thousand
- #66: FreeWebsite.com – $500 thousand
- #67: Websitehosting.co.uk – $500 thousand
- #68: Challenge.com – $500 thousand
- #69: Jackpot.com – $500 thousand
- #70: Meet.me – $450 thousand
- #71: AutoInsurance.org – $440 thousand
- #72: Look.com – $400 thousand
- #73: 33.com – $358 thousand
- #74: Datacenter.com – $352 thousand
- #75: Giftbasket.com – $350 thousand
- #76: VI.com – $325 thousand
- #77: BJ.com – $325 thousand
- #78: 60.com $300 thousand
