Howard Schultz and Ross Perot buying domains???

[accent]

Wow-

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/16552993.htm

"Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, billionaire Ross Perot and Richard Rosenblatt, former chief executive of MySpace and its parent, Intermix Media, are just three of those attempting to build sprawling businesses around Web domains." ...

Internet REIT, for example, owns more than 400,000 domain names ... and has raised more than $20 million from investors including Perot Investments and Maveron, the Seattle-based venture capital firm founded by Schultz, to keep buying.

Richard Rosenblatt, who sold Intermix to News Corp. in 2005 for $580 million, is also amassing hundreds of thousands of addresses, using $220 million that his 10-month-old start-up, Demand Media in Santa Monica, has raised...."

 

[mirrorcube]

Nice article, just confirms it more than we are not crazy to look at good domains as valuable property. Thanks for the post.

 

[loscocco]

Very cool article. Thanks for posting it. Gives us all hope

 

[Keynes]

They own and bankroll iREIT, although they themselves aren't buying domains. But yes, we're seeing a steady inflow of VC money into this industry...

 

[accent]

These guys are interested only in the blue chips. Which most of us cannot possibly afford. But money of that magnitude has to go somewhere and blue chip owners rarely sell, so a lot of red chips and even some selected white chips will in time become blue chips.

I hope.

 

[GeoOwners]

These guys are interested only in the blue chips. Which most of us cannot possibly afford. But money of that magnitude has to go somewhere and blue chip owners rarely sell, so a lot of red chips and even some selected white chips will in time become blue chips.

I hope.

completely true...it all worries me though...as these big companies buy many domains...they will never be back on the market again...might want to keep what you have...imo

 

[accent]

The article talks as if the idea is traffic. I do not think so. Traffic domains are no better priced than lots of other investments. These guys are trying to become the new land barons. You are right - most domains never come out once they get them.

Rick Schwartz is worth 20 - 30 Million, someone said. That is pocket change for these guys. This market may have a very long way to go.

 

[HBK216]

While I think this is good for the industry, I hope it leads to more development. The parked pages on so many generic terms is getting old to me.

 

[john_karr]

Nice post man











www.Dremdate.com for sale

 

[gazzip]

While I think this is good for the industry, I hope it leads to more development. The parked pages on so many generic terms is getting old to me.

For sure, if they don't actually get round to developing them then I think that throwing tens of millions at buying domains just for parking is really going to spoil the landscape for everyone in a big way.

I very much doubt the majority of these big spenders have any intentions of developing them to be honest.

ps - you should see Ross Perots house in Bermuda.....Sweet, he used to blast about Bermuda in a massive Scarab !!
.

 

[Damion]

With proper development there is more profit to be gained then simply parking these premium domains.

Domains are being bought for in the $XX.XXX to $XXX.XXX range but the buyers don't want to spend a dime on good monetization development. Leaving a lot of potential revenue on the table.

2cents

 

[yandig]

Can you imagine Ross Perot agonizing over whether to renew a few domains or sell them for reg fee? LOL

 

[cache]

so what is the business model? If you don't expect to sell the names, what are they doing to do with the names?
"Yet most of Demand Media's sites are little more than computer-generated directories."

 

[gazzip]

so what is the business model? If you don't expect to sell the names, what are they doing to do with the names?

Parking, getting their visitors to click on their way out asap

.

 

[billinchina]

they will never be back on the market again

I think everything is on the market for the right price. Offer someone a million for a name they bought for $50K and they'll start listening.

 

[accent]

Parking, getting their visitors to click on their way out asap

.

I think they are going to sit on them. They will park the names, although parking will be refined perhaps with some BS content and more attractive ads. But parking is not the goal. This looks like land speculation - long term buy and hold in the belief that domains will increase in value. And they certainly will if many big spenders buy in.

Think of the old west (USA). First there were a few hunters and trappers. Then the small farmers came. After a while the land barons showed up and bought most of the property. (And the Indians got pushed into the corner).

I am wondering if this is a sign of a similar change. The days of buying a decent .com for under $$$$ may be numbered.

It means a lot of money for those who have the domains that they want, but a difficult time for those who want to build a website with a nice name.