After last week's list of famous people who don't own the .COM of their name, I started researching and found so many who seemingly aren't interested in their own online identity.
From my research, it looks as though it may come down to who is advising the star in question - many management companies or lawyers have bought their client's .COM domain names a long time ago, even if they are only redirecting the domains to social media accounts.
Take BradPitt.com as an example: his legal team have ownership of the name and forward it to the official Facebook page for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Below are five high-profile people who don't own their own .COM domains.
Bill Gates - BillGates.com
Bill Gates is currently worth $76.5 Billion and is therefore ranked as the richest person in the world. He has 25.1 million followers on his Twitter account @BillGates, but BillGates.com is owned under privacy and has been registered since 2003.
The domain currently points to a Sedo parked page with a link to buy the domain name. Perhaps the current owner is hoping for a big payday from Bill Gates, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. Bill seems quite content with blogging from GatesNotes.com, whilst his charity uses GatesFoundation.org. Gates.com is a developed brand, and Gates.org is parked at Sedo.
Jay Z - JayZ.com
Shawn Carter is best known by his stage name of Jay Z. He has an estimated worth of $520 million and has sold over 100 million records making him one of the world's best selling artists of all time. He's also married to singer Beyonce Knowles.
He has a Facebook page with almost 21 million likes, and he's currently using LifeAndTimes.com as his official website. JayZ.com is currently registered under privacy at Uniregistry, and it points to a DomainNameSales.com parked page with a link to make an offer for the domain. ShawnCarter.com is also a parked domain leading to Sedo.
Perhaps Jay Z will follow his friend Kanye West in spending a five-figure sum to acquire a domain (and doing it in typical Kanye style).
Jennifer Lawrence - JenniferLawrence.com
The Hunger Games actress (and prominent victim of "The Fappening") is the highest paid actress in Hollywood, with earnings of $52 million in 2014. Still, she's recently penned an essay expressing her anger at getting paid less than her male co-stars.
JenniferLawrence.com is owned by a Californian woman called Jennifer Lawrence, who has a simple website set up with advertising and a link to buy an "I Heart Jennifer Lawrence" T-Shirt. She also makes reference to actress Jennifer Lawrence by calling her the "other" Jennifer Lawrence.
Could the Hollywood actress file a UDRP against this individual? Perhaps. Currently, she is using JenniferLawrenceFoundation.com to host a website dedicated to her non profit organization.
Jim Parsons - JimParsons.com
Also known as Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, Jim is considered the highest paid TV actor. He currently earns $1 million per episode, and he has earned $29 million between June 1 2014 and June 1 2015.
JimParsons.com is currently owned by a real estate agent from Victoria, BC. The domain, which Jim Parsons acknowledged is not his, forwards to OnePercentVictoria.com. I'm sure that Jim Parsons the Realtor has noticed a remarkable amount of traffic to his website in recent years, thanks to the continued popularity of The Big Bang Theory.
Rihanna - Rihanna.com
Rihanna is a Barbadian pop star, selling over 41 million million albums worldwide. She currently has a net worth of around $120 million.
Ever since she signed to her record label, she has used the domain name RihannaNow.com to host her official website.
Interestingly, the domain Rihanna.com has been placed up for sale at a number of venues, and shortly afterwards a UDRP was filed against the domain name. According to UDRPSearch.com, it was withdrawn in February 2010 and now the domain name doesn't resolve at all.
From my research, it looks as though it may come down to who is advising the star in question - many management companies or lawyers have bought their client's .COM domain names a long time ago, even if they are only redirecting the domains to social media accounts.
Take BradPitt.com as an example: his legal team have ownership of the name and forward it to the official Facebook page for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Below are five high-profile people who don't own their own .COM domains.
Bill Gates - BillGates.com
Bill Gates is currently worth $76.5 Billion and is therefore ranked as the richest person in the world. He has 25.1 million followers on his Twitter account @BillGates, but BillGates.com is owned under privacy and has been registered since 2003.
The domain currently points to a Sedo parked page with a link to buy the domain name. Perhaps the current owner is hoping for a big payday from Bill Gates, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. Bill seems quite content with blogging from GatesNotes.com, whilst his charity uses GatesFoundation.org. Gates.com is a developed brand, and Gates.org is parked at Sedo.
Jay Z - JayZ.com
Shawn Carter is best known by his stage name of Jay Z. He has an estimated worth of $520 million and has sold over 100 million records making him one of the world's best selling artists of all time. He's also married to singer Beyonce Knowles.
He has a Facebook page with almost 21 million likes, and he's currently using LifeAndTimes.com as his official website. JayZ.com is currently registered under privacy at Uniregistry, and it points to a DomainNameSales.com parked page with a link to make an offer for the domain. ShawnCarter.com is also a parked domain leading to Sedo.
Perhaps Jay Z will follow his friend Kanye West in spending a five-figure sum to acquire a domain (and doing it in typical Kanye style).
Jennifer Lawrence - JenniferLawrence.com
The Hunger Games actress (and prominent victim of "The Fappening") is the highest paid actress in Hollywood, with earnings of $52 million in 2014. Still, she's recently penned an essay expressing her anger at getting paid less than her male co-stars.
JenniferLawrence.com is owned by a Californian woman called Jennifer Lawrence, who has a simple website set up with advertising and a link to buy an "I Heart Jennifer Lawrence" T-Shirt. She also makes reference to actress Jennifer Lawrence by calling her the "other" Jennifer Lawrence.
Could the Hollywood actress file a UDRP against this individual? Perhaps. Currently, she is using JenniferLawrenceFoundation.com to host a website dedicated to her non profit organization.
Jim Parsons - JimParsons.com
Also known as Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, Jim is considered the highest paid TV actor. He currently earns $1 million per episode, and he has earned $29 million between June 1 2014 and June 1 2015.
JimParsons.com is currently owned by a real estate agent from Victoria, BC. The domain, which Jim Parsons acknowledged is not his, forwards to OnePercentVictoria.com. I'm sure that Jim Parsons the Realtor has noticed a remarkable amount of traffic to his website in recent years, thanks to the continued popularity of The Big Bang Theory.
Rihanna - Rihanna.com
Rihanna is a Barbadian pop star, selling over 41 million million albums worldwide. She currently has a net worth of around $120 million.
Ever since she signed to her record label, she has used the domain name RihannaNow.com to host her official website.
Interestingly, the domain Rihanna.com has been placed up for sale at a number of venues, and shortly afterwards a UDRP was filed against the domain name. According to UDRPSearch.com, it was withdrawn in February 2010 and now the domain name doesn't resolve at all.
