It’s been 7 years since we did a poll on the greatest domain name investor of all time. Frank Schilling won back in 2014. Over the last 7 years many new investors have come into the business.
Some investors might be perceived differently today than during the last poll, so here is the 2021 poll.
Sometimes people ask what is meant? Like so and so might not have made as much money but they lifted people up or they were a nicer human being.
This is who is the greatest domain investor of all time, the selling, sales attained, marketing and name selection skills should be what is considered.
Results of last poll
- Frank Schilling (31%, 77 Votes)
- Yun Ye (17%, 43 Votes)
- Rick Schwartz (11%, 27 Votes)
- Mike Mann (6%, 14 Votes)
- Anything.com (5%, 13 Votes)
- Michael Berkens (5%, 12 Votes)
- Castello Brothers (4%, 11 Votes)
- George Kirikos (4%, 9 Votes)
- Adam Dicker (4%, 9 Votes)
- Igal Lichtman (Mrs.Jello) (3%, 8 Votes)
- Chris Chena (3%, 7 Votes)
- Thunayan Al-Ghanim (FMA) (3%, 7 Votes)
- Scott Day (2%, 6 Votes)
- Marc Ostrofsky (2%, 4 Votes)
- Mike Zapolin (1%, 3 Votes)
- Nat Cohen/Telepathy (0%, 2 Votes)
Who is the greatest domain name investor of all time (2021 edition)
Created with Quiz Maker
We will also post this poll at Namepros to see how a different audience views the same question.
Bob Parsons.
Me….BullS
I hand reg domains at 99cent and sell for $$$$$$$$$
Andrew Reberry. Also UNASI guys.
I thought about putting Andrew after I clicked publish, I was also on the phone with someone who made a good point, How can you say someone is the greatest who has never published a domain sale? They could be lifetime net loss in domaining. I don’t know Andrew’s finances I once asked about an interview he told me they do not give any interviews to anyone.
Putting it on namepros makes for comedy, I just checked over there and you look at the comments, these are the dumbest people you could ever run into, they talk about stupid shit and don’t know the meaning of the word investor.
Abstain
But glad you did this again, Raymond. Seems like less than 7 years.
Hey Raymond, check out the latest answer I gave Elliot in “Going All Out in Bankruptcy Auction.” Word to the wise: “Mindless Domainer Think” – don’t be that guy.
Adam Dicker. . . it’s too late for April Fools jokes Raymond
Included because he was in last one Adam. And contrary to what some think still has people who like him. Either way everyone who was in the last one was included again.
Castello Brothers, they were in so early.
This is an interesting question that I think needs a lot more definition behind it. Do you mean greatest in terms of?
1. Domains sales?
2. Number of domains under management?
3. Innovation?
4. Traffic monetization
5. Impact on the industry?
6. Longevity in the industry?
7. Contribution to the industry?
How greatest is being measured is too broad a definition in my opinion. It would be better to have multiple categories…..but there’s my two cents worth.
Sometimes people ask what is meant? Like so and so might not have made as much money but they lifted people up or they were a nicer human being.
This is who is the greatest domain investor of all time, the selling, sales attained, marketing and name selection skills should be what is considered.
Yun Ye, he made 2x more than anyone else.
Not sure if my vote went through , but my vote is for Digimedia , so I count both Scott and Jay in this vote.
Besides being super nice , their portfolio is just so premium and they get top dollar for their domains and will not sell unless someone hits their number
I think polls are cool but let’s be honest only 5 people there could be considered number 1 depending on your cup of tea.
Schilling
Schwartz
Ye
Mann
Ham
Everyone else is certainly solid but nowhere close to being #1
Fuck yeah
i’d imagine the Stephensons (husband and wife) made the most money – over a billion? They’ve donated tens of millions to various healthcare centers with the proceeds from domain sales, and they still have a formidable portfolio.
My understandint, based on convos with Ms. Stephenson, she and her husband registered super premiums in the early or mid 1990s. They, Yun Ye and Kevin Ham have kept low profiles.
Didn’t Lana del Rey’s dad, Mr Grant, also make a fortune via domain investing?
But I’d say Rick Schwartz is still king of domain investing.
I remember this
Here is the sec report filing on the sale:
On February 25, 2009, we entered into an agreement to sell the assets of Domain.com, our wholly owned subsidiary, to A. Emmet Stephenson, Jr., Inc. (“Mr. Stephenson”) in exchange for cash of $7,075,000. The assets of Domain.com consist of domain names, trademarks and corporation names. We conducted an auction for the assets and received bids from multiple parties, including Mr. Stephenson. Mr. Stephenson presented the highest bid, which represented the selling price, of $7,075,000 and the sale was completed effective February 25, 2009. Mr. Stephenson is one of our co-founders, has managed the Domain.com subsidiary since 2006 and owns approximately 20% of our common shares outstanding. Because the transaction involves a related party, the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors considered and approved the transaction.
Here is a list of the domains:
Domain Names
401-K.com
Airlines.com
Anniversary.com
Annuities.com
Birthday.com
Bookings.com
Bookshelf.com
Bourses.com
Car-Rental.com
Christmas-Gifts.com
Communications.com
Cumpleanos.com
Currencies.com
Dining.com
Distributors.com
Dividends.com
Doctors.com
Electronics.com
Exchanges.com
Excursions.com
Frequentflyer.com
Guidebooks.com
Hospitals.com
Investments.com
Municipals.com
Museums.com
MyValentine.com
Products.com
Profits.com
Royalty.com
Ships.com
Taxfree.com
Technology.com
Tee-Times.com
Ticketrez.com
Wedding.com
Wholesale.com
http://directnavigation.com/2009/12/the-multi-million-domain-auction-that-no-one-knew-about-%E2%80%93-part-5-the-best-generic-domain-portfolio-sale-in-years/
During the mid-1990s, StarPak also branched into the Internet field. Subsidiary Domain.com was formed and the company secured the rights to some three dozen web site addresses, paying $50 apiece. Stephenson kept the web site names close to the vest, but some of his favorites were gifts.com, wedding.com, and airlines.com. He also bided his time looking for partners to commercialize the sites, convinced that by having the right domain name a company did not have to spend nearly as much money in building the brand. According to a 1999 Wall Street Journal article, “That logic hasn’t been lost on others pursuing Internet entry. I’ve been offered millions for some of these names, well into seven figures for some of them.”
https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/startek-inc
Emmet is behind so many other domain deals that are not public that would blow your mind. He does keep a very low profile , and think he may have made as much or more than anyone else on this list.
I believe you may be right. & They made enormous donations to medical institutes…USC, etc
I’ve had several dinner in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs with Emmet, his late wife Toni and daughter over the last twenty years. He is the real deal and a class act. His portfolio at the time was the startup domain platform for Marchex. That tells you the kind of portfolio he has.
I’m sorry to hear about Toni’s passing. Very amiable person.
Last time I spoke with her, she and her family were planning an expedition to Africa. A few years ago. I know she had undergone several treatments for cancer. She relayed to me all or most of the premium gambling domains were avail to register, but she and her husband passed. She wished they would’ve regged those as well. I don’t know the ones that were available, but maybe vegas.com, casino.com, poker.com, odds.com, sportsbet.com….?so maybe they left 500 million USD on the table.
But they did extremely well…risk and foresight…fortune favors the brave!
raymond, excellent research – impressed
i know they ourchased some super premiums in 2017 as they talked to me about developing a premium into a large business in the healthcare and genetic arenas
Ms. Stephenson said friends and family questioned their reasoning in registering hundreds of super premiums in 90s with annual 100 usd per domain fee
informative post with lots of feedback. Inspirable too. But in future, there may come some more domain investors in ranking.
Why isn’t Xedoc on the list?
Don’t tell me you don’t know who he is!!!!
I know who he is and he would not get a vote, hell Chernoff does not have one vote and xedocs couldn’t hold his dick.
There are only Schwartz, Schilling, Ye and Mann, no one else is close, they have no chance of winning.
Kevin Leto
I think that in order to be considered a best Domain Investor, it should have continuity and make its sales public for example Twitter domains ….. it makes them more authentic because they are not hidden.
Well, there’s eleven on the list that I either heard of or have been following for years. So, one of the more active ones will be chosen. For me it’s between three. Rosener, Mann, and Schilling. ROSENER!
I think we need clarity on what domain investor means exactly.
For one I see names that are afraid to even sell a domain, guys who scammed, guys who haven’t got votes even though they made 10’s of millions and on and on.
That list is easily reduced to 4-5 if we are talking pure investment.
Now if we were voting for biggest self promotor or “did well” had some vision looking forward, sure throw in 5 more, after that the whole package moniker does not apply.
Personally the one who did the best financially, got in got out, didn’t need to proclaim himself a champion and remained humble, he’s (they) are the winners. A tie perhaps between a few men?