Top Domainers in the world TODAY vs 2013 (2 Viewing)

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2013 List of top domainers in the world​




1. Adam Dicker (DNForum)
Adam Dicker first bought DNForum back in March of 2003. He is the founder of High Impact Sites, Inc., a company who makes their money by buying high traffic domain names and turning them into pay-per-click sites. Apart from domains, Dicker also runs several high profile websites, such as the site that put his name out there in the first place, DNForum.

2. Ammar Kubba (TrafficZ)
Ammar Kubba is the CEO of Thought Convergence, Inc., a business advisor, and an investor. Ammar had an integral part in TrafficZ, which already had a reputation of its own before being acquired by Kubba.

3. Andrew Hazen (DomainWealth.com)
Andrew Hazen is what you would consider a senior domain name entrepreneur. Hazen began in 1996, helping to beef up different websites for profit, all while attending law school. After perfecting his craft of landing websites in the top 5 results in search engines, he began to purchase and acquire various domains and turn them into his own.

4. Bill Muskin (Name.com)
Bill Mushkin is the founder and CEO of Name.com, as well as Mushkin, Inc. Bill seems to like to play both sides of the court, as Mushkin Inc. is a large seller of computer parts and accessories, and Name.com is one of the largest domain registrars in the world.

5. Bob Parsons (GoDaddy.com)
By now, most people have seen the somewhat risqué GoDaddy.com commercials. But not very many people know the man behind it. Bob Parsons founded GoDaddy.com in 1997, and now has on his hands one of the most famous and most profitable domain registrars.

6. Chad Folkening (eCorp)
Chad Folkening has had an interesting slew of twists and turns in his rise to the top. He is no doubt one of the industries heavyweights, but what’s different about Chad is his motivation. He essentially used his life’s experiences as fuel for the fire to skyrocket him into one of the least known, yet well-established domain name owners.

7. Bruce Tonkin (Melbourne IT)
Dr. Bruce Tonkin is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Melbourne IT. He is very well versed in electronics and electrical engineering. Tonkin oversees all of the partnerships with the company, planning out long-term strategies for benefit for the company.

8. Chris Ambler (eNom)
Chris Ambler is one of the smartest men on the planet, having begun his computer programming experience back in 1979…at 12 years old. He refers to himself as the “Powerful Internet Ninja”, working with the best of the best in all spectrums of the computer industry.

9. Chris Chena
Chris Chena became an overnight sensation when he took a different approach to buying domain names. Chena comes from Paraguay and is thus fluent in Spanish. He developed 3 big domain names: Coches.com (cars), Viajes.com (trips), and Classificados.com (classifieds). Needless to say, he was able to tap into a fairly untouched market. He now owns Chena Ventures.

10. Chris Maroney (Original Afternic)
Chris Maroney is the Co-CEO of Afternic.com. Afternic.com operates a little differently than most domain sites. Instead of buying a domain itself, Afternic.com allows you to browse and purchase “Aftermarket” domain names (domain names which are already in use and established).

11. Colin Yu (Reinvent)
Much like Dr. Bruce Tonkin who made the list earlier, Colin Yu has been an entrepreneur since his early years. He is also the Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of Reinvent media group. Colin helped to found Reinvent media group back in 2000 shortly after his 10 year tenure with HSBC bank.

12. Dan Parisi (WhiteHouse.com)
Dan Parisi founded WhiteHouse.com as a political entertainment website back in 1997. Over time more and more adult content began being published to the site from other users, leading in some negative reactions from the general public, and even a letter from former President Bill Clinton. As of 2004, Parisi sold the domain and it now functions as a site for Google ads.

13. Dan Warner (Fabulous)
Dan Warner worked as the COO of Dark Blue Sea, Ltd., during the acquisition of Fabulous.com, a domain name registration and monetization site. Dan has since departed from Dark Blue Sea, Ltd. and is now the CEO of DomainAdvertising.com.

14. David and Michael Castello (CCIN.com)
The Castello Brothers began their quest for millions as humble musicians. In 1991, Michael began his search through the then archaic internet to begin creating a website for their band. What he discovered instead was the world of domain names, and began registering various domain names. Today, CCIN is one of the premier developers of city domains, such as PalmSprings.com and Nashville.com.

15. Dean Shannon (Fabulous)
Dean Shannon is the founder of Fabulous.com (mentioned above). Dean Shannon has been instrumental in the development of the domain industry, holding one of the first domain conferences in 2002.

16. Eliot Noss (Tucows)
Eliot Noss has been with Tucows since 1997. He originally held the position of Vice President of Corporate Services for Tucows Interactive, Ltd., After its purchase by Tucows Delaware in May 1999, he was made the President and CEO in 2001.

17. Eric Harrington (Moniker)
Founder of Moniker.com, Eric Harrington has a long list of big names for which he’s worked for in the past 20 years, such as Ford and GE. Harrington stepped down from Moniker.com in 2009 in order to focus on his next venture, Harrington Enterprises.

18. Eric Rice (BulkRegister)
Eric Rice was a key factor in the success of BulkRegister. He helped create new methods for domain aftermarket and really made BulkRegister renowned for their excellent customer service. BulkRegister was bought out in 2006.

19. Frank Schilling (Name Administration)
Frank Schilling began Name Administration only 12 years ago. Although he is 42 years old, he is one of the few in the domain industry who has been able to throw his name in the hat so late and still achieve the success he has. Today, he is one of the most renowned “domainers” in the world.

20. Fred Hsu (Oversee)
Fred Hsu is one of the founders of Oversee.net. Hsu helped to build the site from the ground up and is currently the largest individual shareholder of the company. Hsu is now the President and CEO of Manage.com

21. George Decarlo (Dotster)
George Decarlo founded Dotster back in 1999 as a domain registrar. Since then, Dotster has expanded to web hosting and design. Over 1 million domains registered under the Dotster name.

22. Gregory J. Manriquez (NameDrive)
Namedrive, the company that Gregory Manriquez founded in 2005, is a site that deals with many different aspects of domain parking, such as brokerage and optimization. Manriquez is one of the youngest of the “domainers”, but had a very tight grasp on the industry, even filing for a patent in 2008 for domain name securitization.

23. Howard Neu (T.R.A.F.F.I.C)
Neu’s accomplishments include singing, acting, radio and T.V., politics, and even law. He is one of the only people on the list whose spin is more of the legal kind rather than being an internet specialist for 20+ years. He is one of the oldest on the list, but he is also one of the most well-rounded people in the domain business.

24. Jay Westerdal (DomainTools)
Jay Westerdal is the founder of DomainTools.com. DomainTools.com is a unique site that has the ability to look up the historical ownership of a website. Aside from DomainTools, he also has his own personal blog in which he covers a wide variety of topics, mainly focusing on technology.

25. John Kane (eNom)
John Kane is the Senior Vice President for eNom, Inc. He has aided eNom in becoming the second largest domain registrar in the world, as well as one of the most recognized names in the domain industry.

26. Jon Whelan (Afternic)
Jon Whelan is currently the co-CEO of AfterNIC.com. In addition to AfterNIC, he is also a part of the New York Angels, an invitation-only organization made up of Angel Investors.

27. Joyce Lin (007 Names)
Joyce Lin is yet another veteran to the domain business. She is the Vice President of 007names.com and a member of the Registrar Stakeholder Group. 007names.com has been providing web hosting services since 1996.

28. JP Vazquez (Capitol Domains)
JP Vazquez is one of the leading internet experts, as well as a consultant. As the Vice President of Finance for iHoldings, Inc., he helped to acquire domains such as Capitoldomains.com and Belgiumdomains.com. In 2007, Dell filed a lawsuit against Vazquez for a variety of activities that they believed were unlawful.

29. Kevin Ham (Reinvent)
Kevin Ham is one of the few Canadians on the list. However, he is the Founder and CEO of Reinvent, Inc. Reinvent, Inc. was founded back in 2000 and continues to remain a strong contender in the domain arena.

30. Kevin Medina (RegisterFly.com)
Kevin Medina was the CEO of domain registrar RegisterFly.com. In 2007, a slew of customer complaints and claims of missing and misused money came to light, putting RegisterFly, and Kevin Medina, in jeopardy. Since that time, RegisterFly.com has filed for bankruptcy.

31. Lawrence Ng (Oversee)
Lawrence Ng is the co-founder (along with Fred Hsu who also made the list) and CEO of Oversee.com. He has a mind for business, with their annual revenue well over $200 million in 2007 and steadily rising ever since.

32. Marc Ostrofsky (Business.com)
Marc Ostrofsky is a force to be reckoned with in the domain industry. Aside from Business.com, he is a New York Times Bestselling author. Unlike many other people on the list, Marc is a public figure, having appeared on many different television networks and in newspapers.

33. Markus Schnermann (Keyword Domains)
Known as the “superstar of the domain industry”, Markus Schnermann has built himself into a prominent figure in the domain industry. He first began to explore the world of domains in 1997 and since has stuck to the method of using the profits from the domains he sells to reinvest in buying more domains.

34. Michael Arrington (Pool.com)
Michael Arrington is the founder of TechCrunch, a technology blog. However, Arrington is most famous for his Pool.com stint in which Arrington led his team to success in just a little less than a year.

35. Michael Collins (Afternic)
Michael Collins is a former member and co-founder of the Afternic crew. Michael and his brother Roger (who will appear on this list as well), founded Afternic back in 2002. Michael left the company back in 2007 to pursue other career opportunities.

36. Michael Kovatch (IPhone.com)
Just about everybody in today’s day and age knows about iPhones. However, back in 1995, Michael Kovatch purchased a domain name called IPhone.com, planning to turn it into a business someday. Back in 2007, shortly after the arrival of the iPhone, Apple contacted Michael to purchase the domain name due to the massive amount of traffic the domain had attracted in just 6 months.

37. Michelle Miller (BuyDomains)
A former COO for BuyDomains.com and Vice President of Sales and Services for NameMedia, Michelle Miller may not be one of the better known names, but she has played a key role in establishing NameMedia as the kingpin it is today. Since then she has only continued her success, now President and COO of Apogee Media, LLC.

38. Mike Mann (BuyDomains)
Mike Mann is the actual “founder” of BuyDomains.com after he registered the domain name, later selling it for 80 million in 2005. Although he is not your traditional businessman, he is arguably one of the most successful on this list, buying thousands of domains a day and selling them shortly after.

39. Monte Cahn (Moniker)
Monte Cahn is the inventor of live domain auctions. Cahn founded Moniker.com in 1995, leaving in 2010 to establish Rightofthedot.com, a very successful consulting firm.

40. Page Howe (Seniors.com)
Page Howe is a prime example of how luck, and a few good investments can change your life around. After a domain he bought flopped, Page Howe risked losing everything. Even though it slowed him down, he refused to give up. In 2007 he sold Seniors.com for 1.5 million, followed by selling Guy.com for 1 million.

41. Paul Stahura (eNom)
Paul Stahura is the CEO and co-founder of the startup company, Donuts, Inc. With over 20 years in the software development industry, Paul gained notoriety while he was the CEO of eNom.

42. Peter Forman (Register.com)
Peter Forman was one of the three founders of Forman Interactive, which later changed into Register.com. Register.com sells registration for general extensions. Peter stepped down as CEO in 2005.

43. Pinky Brand (idNames.com)
Pinky Brand (who’s real first name is Pinkard), began his business by helping to cofound Internet Domain Names, Inc. Pinky is an avid lover of travel and photography, currently residing near Dublin, Ireland. He is the now the CSO of DomainDiction.

44. Randy Charach (Synergy Domains Inc.)
Randy Charach founded Synergy Domains, Inc., while also performing as a mentalist, magician, and motivational speaker.

45. Ray King (Snapnames)
Ray King is the CEO of AboutUs.org. In 2000, King moved to Portland, Oregon to co-found Snapnames.com, which created new ways of acquiring domain names. AboutUs.org is currently the world’s largest editable index of the web.

46. Richard Forman (Register.com)
Richard Forman was the co-founder and CEO of Register.com, as well as a former board member of the New York Angels. He has since focused his efforts on the health care industry, and is the founder and current CEO of ExpertConsensus, LLC.

47. Rick Schwartz (T.R.A.F.F.I.C)
Currently, Schwartz is the President and CEO for 2 different companies, JointVentures.com, T.R.A.F.F.I.C., and Virtual Dates, Inc. He is a true veteran in the domain industry and by far one of the most productive.

48. Rob Hall (Pool.com)
Rob Hall was one of the founding members of the Pool.com team, serving as the CEO then and now. He is the chairman of the majority of the acquisitions of Momentous and has received numerous honors for his work in the field.

49. Roger Collins (Afternic)
A co-founder of Afternic alongside his brother, Michael Collins, Roger took Afternic all the way to the top, making them a top domain name broker after nearly failing. He has since moved on to a less stressful line of work as a contractor and a developer.

50. Roland Chemtob (Branded Holding Group)
Roland Chemtob is a startup investor as well as a developer who currently resides in the Hamptons.

51. Ron Wiener (Snapnames)
Ron Wiener was the Chairman and CEO for Snapnames.com for almost 2 years. He has founded and led many different businesses throughout his career thus far, and currently works as the Chief Mechanic at Venture Mechanics, LLC.

52. Russ Goodwin (Naugus Limited)
Russ Goodwin is a General Manager for Naugus Limited, LLC. After running into minor trouble with icann, Goodwin resolved the matter. As of 2013, they are in the process of changing their name and transferring their services to Domainwar.net

53. Sahar Sarid (Recall Media Group)
Sahar Sarid is a former domainer who made his rounds in the domain industry and even was inducted into the Domain Hall of Fame in 2007. Since 2010, he has been taking a break, traveling all over the globe.

54. Sean Muller (eNom)
Sean Muller is the founder and CEO for iSpot.tv,Inc., a social marketing/data platform for brands on television. He was the former CTO for eNom, as well as Demand Media, Inc.

55. Taryn Naidu (Pool.com)
Taryn Naidu is the Executive Vice President of Registrar Services at Demand Media, and also the General Manager of eNom. Prior to working for Demand Media, he was the CEO and President of Pool.com.

56. Tim Schumacher (Sedo)
Tim Schumacher made Sedo.com what it is today. However, Tim desired to expand his own horizons and parted ways with the company in January of 2012.

57. Thunayan K. Alghanim (FMA.com)
One of the most impressive domainers out there, Thunayan K. Alghanim took the domain industry by storm when he first entered the scene in 2001. In 2003, just a little over 2 years of breaking into the business, he acquired 12,000 quality domains and has since continued that trend.

58. Vern Jurovich (Proformainc.com)
Vern Jurovich founded Pro Forma, Inc. back in 2003. Aside from his domain sales, he also has quite the eye for real estate.

59. Will Pemble (Web.com)
Will Pemble founded and led Web.com to complete success for almost 7 years. Since that time, he has gone onto further success with Hartmann Studios, Pemble.com, Inc, and Shopportive eCommerce.

60. Yun Ye (UltSearch)
Much like Thunayan K. Alghanim, Yun Ye is somewhat of an enigma in the industry, amassing ridiculously profitable and impressive portfolios in short amounts of time while keeping his identity a mystery. Later on it was revealed that he got his start through a 16 year old internet guru from Mumbai who aided and guided him to success.
Let us know if we had forgotten anyone on this list. If you’ve had excellent success in the domain name game, or plan to delve into the domainer lifestyle this year, tell us about it in the comments below!



What would the list look like today?​






Source: For Busy Entrepreneurs
 
Last edited:
Great list. I remember a name way down on that list. I recall reading an article many years ago about Kevin Ham. He is from BC I believe. He had a huge part in the .cm registry. Maybe he owned it at 1 point? He was known as “The man who owns the internet”.
 
Brought back some of the names that were builders but not so well known now. *THUMBSUP*
 
LOL, that list is funny. There are a few truly shady MFs on there so be careful who you read about and falsely idolize.

And there are definitely some very deserving people missing from that last too.
 
*THUMBSUP*

rlm 2715 said:
LOL, that list is funny. There are a few truly shady MFs on there so be careful who you read about and falsely idolize.
 
Great list and great names. Never knew Page Howe had some big hits early on.
 
Nafti said:
Great list. I remember a name way down on that list. I recall reading an article many years ago about Kevin Ham. He is from BC I believe. He had a huge part in the .cm registry. Maybe he owned it at 1 point? He was known as “The man who owns the internet”.

The .CM deal got him that title and the article indeed, in 2007 in Business 2.0. By the time this list was created much of that had already changed. And rumor has it that the .CM deal didn't convert as well as hoped, even at the time where there was still some money in PPC without arbitrage. I remember also his brother Don being involved heavily in the business and they both attended conferences.

But Kevin Ham continued to innovate behind the scenes turning his business in an incubator (reinvent.com) and also setting up a perpetual domain leasing company (venture.com) that currently leases domains like masks.com (the business is on sale at Flippa, including the leasing rights to the domain).

What a list though. We have more history than I thought in our industry :)
 
Kevin & Don are both super nice guys - and yes, from Vancouver, in fact he owns Vancouver.com (or at least I assume he still does). He used to have a yahoo ad feed and he let some of us monetize our domains through him.
 
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Great list. I remember a name way down on that list. I recall reading an article many years ago about Kevin Ham. He is from BC I believe. He had a huge part in the .cm registry. Maybe he owned it at 1 point? He was known as “The man who owns the internet”.
Tidbit he actually owned theinternet.ca lol
 
Great list indeed. Brings back great memories.
 
Man, that 2013 list is questionable. There are some head scratching choices.

It does not have people like Garry Chernoff, Scott Day, Adam Strong, and others.

I think @GeorgeK should be on that list as well, both for domain investment and overall contributions to the field especially when it comes to ICANN, registrant rights, digging up sales, etc.

Brad
 
That list from 2013 is a joke, take it with a huge grain of salt; lots of folks there who are/were not domain investors at all, plus it omits lots of actual domain investors from that time.
 

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