Who Are the Big Players?

[Grrilla]

Who are the big players and what are their backgrounds?

I see names like Elequa, dropped around, have heard a bit about some mysterious character in Hong Kong and another in the Middle-East (guy who bought up the last of the 3LLL infos last winter), have seen Yaacov buying .us for 10Gs and imagine him to be a player, and also the guy down in Florida who was profiled in DN Journal, but know little else. Anyone like to comment on who the big players are and what their strateies might be? (ie hoarding 3LLL names to control supply demand, running sites for ppc/affiliate income etc.). Any tidbit will be appreciated.

 

[netPH]

have heard a bit about some mysterious character in Hong Kong

Probably ULTsearch .... or as for individual, I presume it's ele

 

[CWDigital]

"I command most of the domains on the internet myself under various names and guises...I currently own about 15% off all that is short and .com/.net/.org/.biz/.info"

Quote from elequa

 

[CWDigital]

must be nice......

 

[Mark]

I see alot of Corporations/Companies holding some beauties as well .... I tryed for a nice one through "Pool" a while back that was renewed at last second by "Publishers Clearing House" or someone Involved with them ~

 

[zestydomains*com]

Elequa is probably the biggest player I know of, and at the same time both a gentleman and sharp business person. He owns much of the 3-letter gTLD's and also states that he will NEVER sell any of the names he owns. For some reason, I don't doubt it.

He was also the same individual behind the infamous 3-letter .info and .biz buyout last February. In a period of 2 days, he registered ALL of the available 3-letter .info and .biz names (about 4k of each) and since then the prices of the remaining already registered names have shot up about 500 - 1000%.

If you visit a site on the web and it has the AI.com Search page, or is in any way related to FMA (Future Media Architechs), you can know that Elequa owns it. I have sold him quite a few names myself and he is EXTREMELY professional to deal with. From what I understand, beside owning thousands of 3-letter .coms, thousands of 3-letter .nets and thousands more of the 3-letter .orgs, .infos and .bizs, he also owns such great names as:

mr.com
cool.com
media.com
mp3.tv
messaging.com

And a nice group of many more premium names.

I believe he (Elequa) sees a vision of the internet that many of us may not fully appreciate (and I think he might be right). He believes that the internet (which is really still in its infancy) is the new first "WORLD media" source and power and by owning a large group of the rare 3-letter names and many premium names, your odds of being reached by his influence as a web surfer are great. Through his names he believes he can shape a whole new way of reaching people and revolutionize the way the world communicates.

I like his thinking and wish him the best. Further, I've personally benefitted as well from his hard work, as the remaining supply of 3-letter gTLD's available for resale has dwindled and therefore the prices have grown and continue to do so in a very strong way. As he buys names and essentially retires them from resale, the supply lowers and the demand pushes the prices higher!

Elequa is the king in my opinion!

Andrew

 

[CWDigital]

I see alot of Corporations/Companies holding some beauties as well .... I tryed for a nice one through "Pool" a while back that was renewed at last second by "Publishers Clearing House" or someone Involved with them ~

Yeah Verio.com owns "DN.com" can you imagine having that one?

 

[CWDigital]

I really wonder where all of elequas funds come from...does he just print his own money or something? must be really nice to just have thousands and thousands of domain at your fingertips..and famous .coms as well! I think the whole "I'm not ever selling any" thing kind of sucks though...what if you were a legitimate company and really needed that 3 letter .com or something like that..a little UNFAIR if you ask me...

 

[billinchina]

"I really wonder where all of elequas funds come from..."

I've wondered the same thing. Go to TRAFFIC and ask him.

 

[Sharpy]

Who are the big players?
I go 6'2"/230

CNET have a sweet little portfolio including:

search.com
labs.com
online.com
mp3.com
news.com
com.com
radio.com
download.com
downloads.com
builder.com
shopper.com
computers.com
theweb.com
morbid.com
buydirect.com
activex.com
welcome.com
videogames.com
gamespot.com
uploads.com
pcnews.com
kids.com
future.com
mysnap.com
chat.com
tv.com
shareware.com
com.com
browser.com
auctions.com

Just price these 30 little darlings :yell:

 

[jroy]

CNET have a sweet little portfolio including:

search.com
labs.com
online.com
mp3.com
news.com
com.com
radio.com
download.com
downloads.com
builder.com
shopper.com
computers.com
theweb.com
morbid.com
buydirect.com
activex.com
welcome.com
videogames.com
gamespot.com
uploads.com
pcnews.com
kids.com
future.com
mysnap.com
chat.com
tv.com
shareware.com
com.com
browser.com
auctions.com

Just price these 30 little darlings :yell:

all together $XXX,XXX,XXX

Bashar also has quite a few nice domains.

 

[.edu]

Traffic or just quality? Some whales can care less if a domain is a 3 letter.com or if its something like 3vn9580nm430t.ws 10 zillion hits a day. Money is the name of the game and both have their own capabilities to acquire that. There are alot of whales out there that don't bother with domains 3 letter,short, com,generic keyword etc.. or not. unless they can use it in their field of expertise.

Oh yea back to the question, Nameadmin is a big boomer himself. Probably one of the fasted growing portfolios I have seen. I haven't heard of him selling a domain.

 

[netPH]

a question to our fellow NPer elequa;

Are you the domain name king?


Thanks
-Rostum

 

[redhippo]

lots of big mega money from 3 charcs....but there still money to be made out there...20k names dropping everyday! no one will ever corner the market...probbably more tlds coming out...
.a
.1
.2
.aa
.bo
.fox
.ape
.7

 

[Ber|Art]

I believe he (Elequa) sees a vision of the internet that many of us may not fully appreciate (and I think he might be right). He believes that the internet (which is really still in its infancy) is the new first "WORLD media" source and power and by owning a large group of the rare 3-letter names and many premium names, your odds of being reached by his influence as a web surfer are great. Through his names he believes he can shape a whole new way of reaching people and revolutionize the way the world communicates.

Wow, thats a way of looking at it, I like his vision

 

[superprogrammer]

Read these to come to conclusion
http://dnjournal.com/columns/cover030304.htm
http://dnjournal.com/columns/coverstory2.htm
http://dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm

 

[jroy]

dam, when i read articals like those it makes me wish i had a time machine and could go back and register all the top domain names lol

 

[shilmy]

It's inspiring stories. Thanks for posting them..

 

[bizbj]

I believe Elequa is the king ,I also believe he will not sell any name unless there is a very impossible in his country or in this earth.

Bean

 

[Grrilla]

Read these to come to conclusion
http://dnjournal.com/columns/cover030304.htm
http://dnjournal.com/columns/coverstory2.htm
http://dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm

TX for the links Superprogrammer. I actually read these articles when they were originally published, but that read didn't have the same impact as this time around.

Elequa's vision has certainly captured my interest, and because my focus, (and major source of income), is through art, (functional/found object/ sculpture), his approach intrigues me all the more. I particularly relate to the idea of envisioning names as a collection of brushes. I have storerooms filled w/ all sorts of industrial artifacts that I refer to as my palette. Although I use the materials to create individual pieces, I work on several pieces simultaneously, and often interchange various elements as I go and as inspiration dictates. My method of operation recquires me to have a large "palette" of all shapes and sizes to choose from so that I can optimize and coordinate the look w/ the right details.

I have carried this approach over to my work w/ domain names, although, in my case, my web design and development skills haven't caught up w/ my ideas, yet. But, I remember my early days in functional art, when my technical skill lagged behind my artistic vision and from that experience, I know that if I keep plugging away, the web skills will, also, eventually catch up. (Hopefully sooner, than later.):blink:

Although I am not, (and don't foresee myself ever to be), a big player in the domain name biz, it is encouraging, nevertheless, to see that one of the major internet marketers and domain name personalities, has an artistic temperment. and shares some perspectives that are similar to my own, albeit w/ a name palette that, needless to say, more than eclipses my own. :tu: