It was 7 years ago today that the founder of this blog Mr. Michael Berkens surprised everyone by announcing he sold his portfolio to GoDaddy.
The press release partially read like this:
This acquisition consists of approximately 70,000 domain names, including 373.com, Faculty.com, CarAuctions.com, and iBill.com. It also includes names targeted at small businesses such as BikeRentals.com, EventPlanning.co, and KitchenChef.com. These names are now available for purchase by anyone looking to establish or enhance their digital identity.
I spoke to Mike over the weekend about the anniversary coming up and asked him how he felt?
He told me that 7 years later he is glad that he and his wife Judi made the decision they made. At the time Judi had a long rehab ahead of her from very serious back surgery. He and Judi have gotten to travel a lot with Mike not being tied down to going through expiry and auction lists like he did the previous 15 years.
George Kirikos was the first to tweet out the sale price,
According to a series of tweets from George Kirikos this evening, GoDaddy “*definitely* paid $35.5MM for Mike Berkens domain portfolio.”
He has not really been that in tune to the industry over the last few years although he does still own plenty of domains. I can confirm he is still making some nice sales as this year myself and a GoDaddy broker put together a 6 figure sale on a name that Mike acquired for just under $300 in 2018 at DropCatch. Mike has made good money in crypto though he did not jump in on NFTs.
Interestingly back in 2015 GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) stock was around $33 a share when the deal was announced. Today it stands at $74.38.
Mike has been spending a lot of time back and forth between North Carolina and Florida and seems like he and Judi are enjoying life. Good for them, two of the best people in the industry. Mike has never been caught up with competition or wished someone else to fail in the decade I have known and worked with him he has always said to me he wishes for everyone to be successful.
Good to hear. Michael and TheDomains team has been a significant contributing factor to the success and growth of the domain name aftermarket with his transparency, sale sharing, and insightful commentary in the DomainSherpa / active blogging days. He is one of the few earlier pioneers who’ve made it known to everyone the opportunities and possibilities in the domain world for both investors and end users. Thanks.
Mike Berkens was the real domain king and a very smart man all around.
A true legend.
Very happy for him.
Glad Mike and Judi are enjoying the next phase of their lives, they built an amazing business. It’s great when good things happen to nice people.
Really great update Raymond. Happy to hear Mike and Judi are doing well. Two of the best in the industry for sure. 🙂
Mike and Judy are domain name successes. It’s nice to see people having fun with the fruits of their labor. Mike made money enjoying what he was doing. That in itself is a victory.
two great people indeed. Glad to hear my friends Mike and Judi are well.
Also I can personally vouch that Mike means what he says when he wants all domain investors to do well.
Great memories of early TRAFFIC conferences that Mike and Judi attended.
I’m not in Ashevill (yet) but I’m getting closer here in Spartanburg S.C.
Mike and Judi if we get up that way Helen and I would be glad to get together
All the best
Miss seeing Mike and Judi at the conferences.