The Time a Legend Inquired About a Domain Name

In 2018, I received an inquiry to buy a two word .com domain name that came through a form on an Embrace.com inquiry page. The name of the person who inquired sounded familiar to me, and a Google search of the unique spelling of his name showed me why.

This man was a legendary entrepreneur who founded more than a dozen companies. Some of these companies are still well-known brands that people in the US would recognize. From what I can gather, he had several successful exits, and he continued his entrepreneurial work for his entire life.

While this may be interesting in its own right, the man’s name stuck out to me because I know his granddaughter. She was a college friend of mine. We have stayed in touch over the years, chatting a few times about domain names in her own business ventures.

As soon as I realized who was inquiring about my domain name, I reached out to my friend to tell her about the inquiry. She didn’t sound surprised that her grandfather was working on a business venture and needed a brand name and domain name. I spoke with the entrepreneur on the phone, and we had a good conversation about the domain name and our mutual connection. A comment he shared with me in a subsequent email made me smile: “I looked at your website – Embrace.com — and I believe that you have a good concept in focusing on “meaningful domain names.”

In the end, we couldn’t work out a deal for the domain name. There could have been some trademark issues with his usage of this domain name, and he couldn’t make an offer near the price where I ended up selling the domain name the following year.

According to an obituary in the New York Times, this legendary entrepreneur passed away in 2019. I did not know him personally beyond our phone call, but seeing a purchase inquiry from him was a highlight for me.