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Business.com Is Good: Record-breaking Virtual Real Estate Sells Yet Again

TechCrunch has just reported Business.com will be changing hands once again, adding another chapter to it’s fantastic history as one of the most valuable domain names in existence.

Business.com has been a centerpiece for those wishing to prove credibility and sustainability of the domain industry. The business has continued to provide evidence for the near exponential growth in value of premium domains. Not to mention the opportunities a great domain offers.

It was Business.com that led to the idea of domain names and websites representing the “real estate of the Internet”. Here’s how the story played out.

Business.com Timeline

• Mid 1990′s - Purchased for $150,000 by domain investor Marc Ostrofsky. This was the most money ever paid for a domain at the time.
• 1999 – Sold to eCompanies for $7.5 million in cash and stocks, recorded by Guinness as a world record. The value of stocks eventually dwindled to $2 million.
• 2007 - The now business search directory sells at auction to RH Donnelley for $350 million. Donnelley filed for bankruptcy two years later.
• 2011 – Business.com is sold yet again, this time to Resource Nation with help from JMI Equity for an undisclosed sum.

The partnership is reported to be a great match. Business.com is now a widely popular marketplace for business-to-business services. Resource Nation provides B2B lead generation and has a network of 10,000 advertising partners.

It’s unfortunate that the sale price is not being announced, though I doubt the latest valuation would have added much more to the allure. Sometimes these transactions have a way of getting out to the public.

For now, we will have to wait and see where the next chapter in this story of internet success of will take us.

Business.com Is Good: Record-breaking Virtual Real Estate Sells Yet Again DotSauce Magazine

Tags: Branding, Business, Current Events, Domain Industry, Domain Investing, Domain Names, Internet, Notable Domain Sales