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In
one of the biggest
- and no doubt highest valued -
domain portfolio sales in history, Michael
Berkens (who was profiled in our
June 2009 Cover
Story) has sold the
majority of names held in the Worldwide
Media Inc. portfolio that he
began assembling
back in 1997 (names that have been available for individual
sale through Michael's
well-known
MostWantedDomains
website).
A press
release announcing the
deal said approximately 70,000
domains are involved in the
transaction but the price paid was not
disclosed. A small sampling of
the names GoDaddy acquired included 373.com,
Faculty.com, CarAuctions.com,
iBill.com and BikeRentals.com
(as well as
MostWantedDomains.com).
GoDaddy
may have been motivated to make this
deal after enjoying success with the
portfolio of more than 200,000 domains
they bought
from
Marchex last April.
Marchex had acquired the majority of
that portfolio from another private
domain investor, Yun Ye, in a
stunning $164
million deal back in
2005.
Berkens
said, "Since 1997, I've worked
every day on building my domain name
portfolio. Now it's time to focus on
my other endeavors as well as
family and friends. I'm
extremely proud of the portfolio I
built and the domain name industry
has never been stronger. This is a
win-win for everyone involved."
Some of the other endeavors Michael
referred to are the RightOfTheDot.com
domain consultancy he co-founded
with Monte Cahn and the
highly regarded industry blog - TheDomains.com
- that Michael founded in 2007.
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Michael
Berkens
MostWantedDomains Founder
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Michael
McLaughlin
GoDaddy Senior VP &
General Manager |
GoDaddy
Senior Vice President and
General Manager Mike
McLaughlin said, "We're always
looking at ways to improve
what domain names our
customers can register. Our
plan is to make these names
accessible to small
businesses. Michael Berkens
has assembled an incredible
portfolio of names and
has been such an integral part
of the domain name aftermarket
for so many years."
GoDaddy
plans to list the majority of
the names on Afternic's
Fast Transfer Network (GoDaddy
purchased Afternic from NameMedia
in 2013). Afternic's
reseller network includes 18
of the Top 20 registrars. When
a customer searches for a
domain name at one of those
partner registrars, Afternic
provides the exact name or a
list of alternatives from
their aftermarket inventory
that are available for sale.
Customers can buy one of those
domains and have the name show
up in their account in seconds
using Afternic's Fast Transfer
Network. |
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As
a personal note, we
couldn't be happier for
Michael and his wife Judi
who have been friends for many
years and are such an integral
part of the domain investment
industry that it is hard to
envision it without them in
it. Fortunately, we won't have
to as Michael, in a post
on his blog about the
sale this morning, confirmed
he will remain on the scene,
though not on the around the
clock basis he has been
known for over the years.
Michael also noted that some
health issues Judi has battled
through this year played a
role in his decision to sell.
Fortunately Judi is doing much
better now but going through
something like that would
remind any of us of the importance
of stopping to smell the
roses along the way. We
think it is a smart choice and
look forward to seeing Michael
and Judi enjoy the fruits of
their hard work for many
years to come.
Michael
Berkens (far left) and Judi
Berkens (far right) with Ron
and Diana Jackson
(in a shot taken at our
daughter's wedding in
Sarasota, Florida in September
2012). |
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