At the end of May, I noticed that the Voice.com domain name had transferred to GoDaddy under privacy proxy. I wondered if MicroStrategy had sold the domain name, and it was later learned that it had been acquired by a startup called Block.One. The company announced that Voice would become “a blockchain-based social media application.” Voice.com is clearly a valuable domain name, and today we learned just how much it cost to acquire it.
According to a press release published by MicroStrategy (a publicly traded company), Voice.com was sold for $30 million (in cash). This is easily the largest domain name sale of the year and likely the largest publicly reported (cash) domain name sale of all time, as recorded and reported by DNJournal. This list does not include domain names that were sold with actives businesses or websites.
MicroStrategy announced that the deal was “facilitated by GoDaddy,” so this is probably a pretty nice payday for the company.
MicroStrategy still owns a small portfolio of exceptional domain names, including Strategy.com, Alert.com, Hope.com, Wisdom.com, Courage.com, and quite a few other one word .com domain names. With this $30 million cash deal on the books, companies looking to buy one of MicroStrategy’s domain names will have an idea of how much it will take to get a deal done.
Update: GoDaddy Aftermarket VP Paul Nicks confirmed the deal via Twitter this afternoon and offered some comments about it:
We’re happy to have brokered this sale via our Domain Broker Service. MicroStrategy was a great seller to deal with, but this would not have happened without https://t.co/bJ26hXqign understanding the real value of a killer domain. https://t.co/jOg4iffpUF
— Paul Nicks (@PaulENicks) June 18, 2019
Update #2: For anyone who might doubt the veracity of this deal, MicroStrategy published its report with the SEC.
Here’s the press release announcing the deal:
MicroStrategy Sells Voice.com Domain Name for $30 Million
Additional Ultra-Premium Domain Names Available for Strategic TransactionsTYSONS CORNER, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MicroStrategy® Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR), a leading worldwide provider of enterprise analytics and mobility software, today announced that it has sold the Voice.com domain name for $30 million in cash in a transaction facilitated by GoDaddy and consummated on May 30, 2019. The domain name has subsequently been used by Block.one to launch its new blockchain-based social media platform called Voice.
“Block.one has made a smart strategic decision in choosing Voice.com to be the internet domain name for its new social media platform. The word ‘voice’ is simple and universally understood. It’s also ubiquitous ― as a search term, it returns billions of results on the internet. An ultra-premium domain name like Voice.com can help a company achieve instant brand recognition, ignite a business, and massively accelerate value creation,” said Marge Breya, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, MicroStrategy Incorporated.
“MicroStrategy holds more than a dozen evocative and powerful domain names. While our focus continues to be on our core analytics and mobility business, we are open to leveraging these domain names in equity or other strategic transactions with well-funded parties,” added Ms. Breya.
Additional ultra-premium domain names held by MicroStrategy include:
Wisdom.com Strategy.com Speaker.com
Alert.com Hope.com Courage.com
Glory.com iDream.com Mike.com
William.com Arthur.com Frank.com
Emma.com Usher.com Michael.comTo learn more about these domain names, please visit www.microstrategy.com/domains.
About MicroStrategy Incorporated
MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) is a leading worldwide provider of enterprise analytics and mobility software and services. Our mission is to make every enterprise a more Intelligent Enterprise™. MicroStrategy 2019™ delivers modern analytics on an open, comprehensive enterprise platform designed to drive business results with Federated Analytics, Transformational Mobility, and HyperIntelligence™. To learn more, visit MicroStrategy online, and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
MicroStrategy, Intelligent Enterprise, MicroStrategy 2019, and HyperIntelligence are either trademarks or registered trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated in the United States and certain other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
boom. mic drop.
That is good news for all domainers. Going to raise awareness of the domains cost. Best .com should cost like that, best anything else can as well be above 1m.
A sale of that magnitude will probably be reported on Bloomberg / CNBC and give .com domains additional awareness.
Now this shows just how awkward and drab the previous “velo” announcement really is. Yes, this is good news for the industry, and this domain is definitely of another color.
One huge caveat:
Most of you are probably not as aware of the tsunami of censorship and suppression going on now. Most people apparently believe it is only taking place against the so-called right, conservatives, etc. Most people do not seem to be aware that it is also taking place just as much or even more so against the “real” left and other independent media voices. That is to be distinguished from the mainstream “fake” left, which is simply just as much a bunch of corporatist oligarch plutocrats as the right in the great left/right paradigm deception by which the country has been divided.
So the bottom line is that whether you are “left” or “right,” people’s “voice” is being censored and suppressed in tidal waves and droves.
And many many people are aware of it, however. So if this domain gets used in the way that Twitter, Facebook and Youtube are engaging in such censorship and suppression, people will know. And it will greatly damage the reputation of any associated site. So this domain can be used for something great, or for something deemed by many to be just another tool of oligarchy and “establishment.”
Yawn John. Another insightful comment. Pass me some of that special cigarette please.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug..
Thanks “guys,” I was almost certain there would be some trolls for this one. Maybe I was certain and don’t even realize it. You “guys” on salary or contract perchance?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A12&version=NASB
John, what in God’s name is the “New American Standard Bible”..?? Sounds like a Protestant scam! I, for once, am a good Roman Catholic so either quote from the real deal (in Greek!) or leave God out of this!
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+26%3A4-5&version=NASB
Again with the fake bible?? John, the Vatican expressed his discontent with this misguided translation multiple times!
Why are you still worshipping the Protestant cult?
So, when a big company sits on domain names and tries to sell them for enormous amounts of money, it’s strategic and worthy of press releases. but when decent, ordinary people do it, it’s fair game to call them cybersquatters and scalpers? What is Verisign’s comment on this horrible scalper called MicroStrategy?
Bullseye, Jed.
Its their own press-release, not the public reaction. I’ve posted this news on a Russian UGC site and the first comment that came in was a guy’s story how he started a project and wanted an LLL.ru for it, but owner asked him about 10M rubles (about 150K USD) and he’s so mad about it.
@Jed Great point. If you want to learn the true value of domain names, study what corporations do with their own assets on the market. They know the inherent value of the premium dot-Com and pursue top dollar when they sell.
Massive news for the industry and everyone who orbits it. Incredible sale!
Paul Nicks just noted on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/PaulENicks/status/1141040469884977153
that the $30 million was *before* commission, so the actual price was even higher than $30 million!! Perhaps someone will reach out to the buyer to get the total price actually paid (GoDaddy won’t disclose it, but perhaps the buyer will, given there appears to be no NDA).
Seriously George, you wanna get like me with this repeating of comments across blogs now? 😉 🙂
The same folks purchased VOICE.io from us for $25,000 USD around the same time. Not sure how many (if any) other voice + extensions they picked up.
Just pooed my pants.
Amazing name, no doubt.
IMHO it would also have been a perfect fit for a company in the voice computing industry (alexa, siri, etc).
Great price, congrats to the seller.