According to an article in Gizmodo and other news media outlets, Steve Wozniak is readying to launch a new space company called Privateer. He tweeted a short YouTube video about the the launch of Privateer, and the logo at the end of the video matches the one that appears on the brand match Privateer.com domain name.
In looking at the Whois record for Privateer.com in conjunction with a recent screenshot of the website prior to the launch of Privateer, it would appear to me that the domain name was acquired via Dan.com. If that is the case, it is unclear if the domain name was bought for a buy it now price or is being purchased with a payment plan option. George Kirikos shared this information on Twitter:
Steve Wozniak uses the one-word Privateer(.)com domain name to launch a private space company,https://t.co/97f6Evzy7D
It appears, via the name server history, to be a domain acquired through https://t.co/DawhhR5dxs‘s marketplace or escrow. https://t.co/iuK0Uedogz
— George Kirikos (@GeorgeKirikos) September 13, 2021
Current Whois records show that Privateer.com is now registered under Whois privacy at Metaregistrar BV. The domain name had been registered at GoDaddy until May of this year. Some domain names I have sold via Dan.com have been transferred to this registrar. In fact, one of the two domain names I have sold via payment plan was transferred to Metaregistrar by Dan.com. I believe there is a relationship between Metaregistrar and Dan.com, according to this article publish on OnlineDomain.com.
In addition to this, a screenshot captured by DomainTools’ Screenshots.com in September of 2020 shows that Privateer.com appears to have been listed for sale with a $125,000 buy it now price. There is also an option to purchase this domain name with a payment plan for $2,709 per month. I don’t see any more recent screenshots or listings on Archive.org to know if the price changed since then.
Regardless of how Privateer.com was acquired, it was a smart move for Wozniak to acquire the brand match domain name as he prepares the public launch of his new company.
“Regardless of how Privateer.com was acquired, it was a smart move for Wozniak to acquire the brand match domain name as he prepares the public launch of his new company.”
You know it’s horrible naming and branding. And what a steal for the seller if anything even close to $125k occurred for a horrible name like that.