Who is the Greatest Domainer of All Time ?

by

Almost two years ago to the day, we asked, “Who is the greatest domain investor of all time ?”

From the comment section Frank Schilling was the person mentioned the most.

So two years later we have seen portfolio sales, the good, the bad and the ugly of new gtlds, Chinese highs and lows, etc… Has your opinion changed or stayed the same ?

Now right away some are going to say when they look at the choices that so and so has sold nowhere near the amount of domains from a  dollar perspective.  Two years ago many made it clear that they did not consider greatest defined as simply as highest sales numbers. So there is a wide variety of choices for people to choose from, appealing to a wide variety of sensibilities.

Poll closed, results below:

Rick Schwartz
98
   36%
Frank Schilling
69
   25%
Yun Ye
23
     8%
Michael Berkens
16
     6%
Igal Lichtman
12
     4%
Kevin Ham
10
     4%
Mike Mann
9
     3%
Castello Brothers
8
     3%
Turakhia Brothers (Directi, Radix)
7
     3%
Andrew Rosener
7
     3%
Rob Grant
3
     1%
John Xu (Owner 4.CN)
2
     1%
Bob Parsons
2
     1%
George Kirikos
2
     1%
Scott Day
2
     1%
Chris Chena
1
     0%
Thunayan Al-Ghanim
1
     0%
Eric Borgos
1
     0%
Mike Zappy Zapolin
0
     0%
Anything.com
0
     0%

About Raymond Hackney

Raymond is a writer, domain trader and consultant based in Pennsylvania. Raymond is the founder of 3Character.com and TLDInvestors.com.

Comments

  2. Xavier.xyz says

    domain names sold, domain portfolio, Registry, Uniregisty, Domainnamesales, Frank Shilling is by far the greatest domainer of this century.

    The domain king, Micheal Berkens and Mike Mann, Andrew Rosener are great sellers/investors.

  4. steve brady says

    Sovereign.Domains is a media JUGGERNAUT. When new TLD’s hit mainstream, Sovereign.Domains will rewrite the history books as the most powerful domain platform ever constructed both right and left of the dot. Never again will anyone duplicate what Sovereign.Domains managed to build in less than three years. It is a fortress of domain name brute force.

    I expect buyout offers of 2 to 3 million dollars from Sergie at Google, GoDaddy, Zuckerberg, and all the Sherpas well before 2020.

    • Anonymous says

      WHOIS Server: who.godaddy.com/
      Domain Name: sovereign.domains
      Registrant Name: Steve Brady

      Registry Expiry Date: 2017-07-10T03:24:42Z – You might want to renew your $2MM-$3MM domain, there pal.

      • steve brady says

        Billion. Did I say million? 2 to 3 billion if you include Hedgefund.XYZ
        I will be on vacation until after Labor Day. If you have any questions, my secretary Phyllis will be handling email for me. Have a great summer!

  5. Ace says

    It has to be Rick, that guy is a legend. Also why isn’t is John Ferber in the list?

    • VR says

      Most of these mofos don’t know who Scott Day or Thunayan Al – Ghanim is, you think they know who John Ferber is ? I am betting on no.

      It is Rick because he just sells for prices no one else has the balls to ask.

  7. Kevin says

    Rick was the Pioneer who led the way, inspired thousands, shared his knowledge and business acumen, got the industry lots of media attention and validated that 7 figure sales were really possible.

    $$$$$$$

    Kevin

    • Ben says

      I found it funny that the ensuing heat map shows a voting block originating from the Cayman Islands. Hmmm. Wonder to whom that vote is going? Also, I think the strong showing of support for Schwartz is a strong showing for .com and a clear statement from domainers that the new gtlds are dead on the vine, just as Rick predicted.

  9. John says

    First off, most people are too conditioned by the most recent years news and who has the spotlight to give a meaningful answer. It usually takes someone with a more honest perspective to offer up a more honestly accurate body of suggestions.

    So while Kevin Ham has only 1% of the poll results here, that only demonstrates what I just wrote above. But a more honest perspective never forgets things like this:

    CNN/Money – “The man who owns the Internet
    Kevin Ham is the most powerful dotcom mogul you’ve never heard of, reports Business 2.0 Magazine. Here’s how the master of Web domains built a $300 million empire.”

    Rick Schwartz is the sentimental favorite, and for a number of good reasons. Even I can’t stop loving him myself. https : // youtu . be /g5D41WNYKE4 🙂

    There’s one or two others I would be too embarrassed to admit liking now too. 🙂

    Should Bob Parsons even be included in this question, or should he be considered a horse of another color in a completely different category altogether? If you include him in this question and poll, then he has to be the pick and it’s a no-brainer the size of Mt. Everest. So either do not include him in this category and poll, or stop playing and admit the obvious 800 ton giant in the room.

    The other big fish there always rate “honorable” mention at least, some despite flaws, but not “the greatest” status.

    Cheers, this question is always fun.

  10. Jamie says

    Kevin Ham. I remember reading about him before I even knew who Frank Schilling or Rick Schwartz were.

  11. Francois says

    Frank Schilling is the GREATEST and I thanks again for his support to Domaining.com

  12. steve says

    My vote goes to Toni and Emmet Stephenson; they registered great domains when the open web was nascent, and they’ve donated $millions to medical research, with their proceeds.
    #2 Rick Schwartz, for domain sales, acquisitions, Traffic and his former blog
    #3 Michael Berkins — coming after that great sale to GoDaddy last year, this blog, and participation at domain events
    #4 Yun Yee — he timed it right, and got the jump on the drops
    I would have listed Frank & Rick tied for #2, but I believe the GTLDS have caused or will cause financial ruin for many participants, mainly first time or new domain investors, as well as many who invested in the various extensions. (The big winners have been the registries who received handsome payouts for dropping out of domain auctions)

  14. h4ck3r says

    Hero worship is a dangerous thing.

    Frank clearly has the greatest breadth of influence; however, the i hate the idea that he is building a platform for domainers and that he’s somehow above reproach in how he is trying to define the space and take advantage of other domainers.

    Thunayan Al-Ghanim has the portfolio I’d love to have. He has the same sell rate as Stenzel (not on list).

    Igal (RIP) may have been a great domainer but he fell short in management of his portfolio when he died. That should serve as a lesson to others which leads me to ….my vote out of the list is for Berkens who was very successful, very well regarded, and then got out (I think) so he got lead a life without any concerns for future value of a portfolio.

    My real choice is the guy who owns germany.com