|
I
was shocked to learn
tonight that pioneering young
numeric domain investor T.J.
Demas had passed away last
summer after a two-year battle with
esophageal cancer. I got the news in
a phone call from Michael Berkens
(TheDomains.com)
who, like me, was both saddened by
the news and surprised it had taken
this long for word
of the passing of such
an important person in our
industry's history to get back to
us.
While
domains were just one of T.J.'s
successful entrepreneurial pursuits
he tried to make it to at least one
conference a year in the mid 2000s
and we were frequently in touch
during those years when he amassed a
phenomenal portfolio of short
numeric .com domain names. In 2008
T.J.'s company (known as E8) spent
over $1.1 million to buy
a group of 11 short numeric domains
(including 11.com). This was years
before short numeric domains skyrocketed
in value in a boom triggered by
Chinese buyers that is still going
on today (in fact the biggest domain
sale reported so
far in 2017 is 01.com
at $1,820,000).
|
T.J.
Demas
at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New York 2008
|
|
In
2011 we reported T.J.'s $525,000
sale of 11.com
which at the time was an all-time
record for a numeric domain
sale. T.J. had paid $188,888
for the name when he went on the
2008 buying spree noted above.
T.J.
was a very personable young
man who struck me as having a genius
level intellect. He graduated from
the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill with degrees in
Economics and International Studies,
then went on to earn an MBA at the University
of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton
School in 1995. Demas then built
a successful equity investment
career at American Century
Investors in Kansas City and
then as a consultant to Friess
Associates before founding his
own firm, Aspen Edge Research.
Once
Demas discovered domains he decided
- as he did with everything that
interested him - to dive in head
first and learn everything he
possibly could about the business.
T.J.
Demas (left) with domain
industry friend William Gormally
at the 2007 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New
York conference.
|
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founder Rick Schwartz (who
has had some landmark
numeric domain sales of his
own) also
just learned of T.J.'s
passing tonight.
"I
was shocked and saddened
to hear of his passing,"
Schwartz said. "I am
pretty sure our relationship
goes back to Rick's Board in |
|
the
early 2000's. It's a
reminder to all that when we
invest in domains we have to
factor in life expectancy
and the part of life when we
are totally healthy and
mobile."
"I
exchanged emails with T.J.
for many years and he was
into numeric domains long
before the frenzy for
numerics in China. He has
always been cutting edge, ahead
of his time with very
big ideas doing dynamic and
great things. I remember him
working on a fantastic watch
that was just incredible and
he was working on it for
years."
Schwartz
added, "One
email back in 2009 explained
why he couldn't come to T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
that year because he was
going to meet Richard
Branson in San Francisco
to make a sales pitch for
E8.com. Life challenged T.J.
Demas and he challenged
it right back in a very
dramatic and courageous way
that many of us, including
me, can learn from. My
condolences to his close
friends and family."
|
Rick
Schwartz
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Co-Founder |
T.J.
and his family (wife Dawn and their
twin children) split their time
between homes in North Carolina
(where T.J. was born) and Aspen,
Colorado. The bout with
cancer that took his life was his
second encounter with the deadly
disease. In 1991 he was diagnosed
with Hodgkin's disease but, with the
help of a bone marrow transplant,
beat it and remained cancer free for
25 years. Knowing how fragile
life was he lived those 25 years to the
fullest radiating gratitude
and joy that made simply being
around him an immense
pleasure. The ability T.J. had to
make people feel that way - and continue
to feel that way just thinking
about him - is a great comfort at a
time when no words are sufficient to
convey the stunning loss of such a
bright star so much sooner than any
of us could have ever expected.
|
