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The
All-Time Top 20 Cash Domain Sales Reported By
DNJournal.com (2003 to Now)
Editor's
Note: DN Journal can not vouch
for domain sales reported before we started
tracking and verifying aftermarket sales in late
2003. Many of the sales reported prior to that
were not cash deals (payment was often made, at
least partially, with stock that declined
dramatically in value) and some of the reports
were simply bogus. Since no one was checking, it
was something some unscrupulous people would do in
an effort to pump up the perception of value in a
keyword string or TLD they had a financial
interest in.
We
track sales of domain names only - not
developed website domains as the value of the name
only cannot be separated from other developed
assets such as sales of products or services,
customer lists and the cost of the development
itself which can be considerable (just as building
a home on an undeveloped lot in real estate adds
value to it). We do not consider a
sale to be completed until FULL payment has been
made and the domain transferred to the new owner.
This
page was last updated May 15, 2026 when
the 1Q-2026 sale of #17 (tie) Green.com
was uncovered in research done by George
Kirikos. The sale was overseen by Andrew
Miller at ATM
Holdings. The chart will remain
current until another sale occurs that is
large enough to break into this elite list. That
will not happen often as publicly reported sales
at this level are not common occurrences.
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The
All-Time Top 20 Domain Sales Reported
by DNJournal.com |
|
Domain |
Sold
For |
Year
Sold/
Reported |
Broker
(& Original
Source if not the same) |
|
1. |
AI.com |
$70,000,000 |
2025/2026 |
GetYourDomain.com/
DomainAssets.com |
|
2. |
Voice.com |
$30,000,000 |
2019 |
GoDaddy |
|
3. |
Chat.com |
$15,500,000 |
2023 |
ATMHoldings/Hilco
Digital & GetYourDomain |
|
4. |
NFTs.com |
$15,000,000 |
2022 |
Domainer.com/GoDaddy |
|
5. |
Rocket.com |
$14,000,000 |
2024 |
ATMHoldings/HilcoDigital
OS: George
Kirikos |
|
6. |
Sex.com |
$13,000,000 |
2010 |
Sedo (Jeff
Gabriel) |
|
7.
tie |
Crypto.com |
$12,000,000 |
2018 |
Private Sale |
|
7.
tie |
Icon.com |
$12,000,000 |
2025 |
ATMHoldings/Hilco
Digital & Lumis.com |
|
9. |
Tesla.com |
$11,000,000 |
2016/2018* |
Private Sale |
|
10.
tie |
Club.com |
$10,000,000 |
2025/2026 |
ATMHoldings/Hilco
Digital |
|
10.
tie |
Connect.com |
$10,000,000 |
2022 |
BrandForce
OS: George
Kirikos |
|
12. |
Porn.com |
$9,500,000 |
2007 |
Moniker.com
(Monte Cahn) |
|
13. |
Porno.com |
$8,888,888 |
2015 |
Private Sale |
|
14. |
Gold.com |
$8,515,000 |
2024 |
ATM Holdings
(Andrew Miller)
OS: George
Kirikos |
|
15. |
HealthInsurance.com |
$8,133,000 |
2019 |
Private Sale
OS: George
Kirikos |
|
16. |
We.com |
$8,000,000 |
2015 |
Sedo |
|
17.
tie |
Diamond.com |
$7,500,000 |
2024 |
Saw.com
(Jeff Gabriel & Brooke Renner) |
|
17.
tie |
Green.com |
$7,500,000 |
2026 |
ATM Holdings
(Andrew Miller)
OS: George
Kirikos |
|
19. |
Z.com |
$6,784,000 |
2015 |
Private Sale |
|
20. |
Slots.com |
$5,500,000 |
2010 |
Moniker.com |
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Footnotes: *Top
tier domain sales are often subject to
non-disclosure agreements. As a result, the
prices paid may not be revealed until years
later, if at all. For example, it wasn't
until 2018 that Elon Musk confirmed the
price he paid for Tesla.com in a 2016 sale. |
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Historical
Notes: In February 2015 we
reported that 360.com had been
sold with China's Qihoo Technology buying
the domain from Vodafone. While a number of
sites have reported the domain sold for $17
million (citing anonymous sources that may or
may not be credible) that has not been
officially confirmed by the buyer, seller or
any other party directly involved in the sale. Until
it is we will not be able to chart the sale
(even though we think that given the quality of
the domain and the deep pockets of Qihoo it is
quite possible it did sell for the $17 million
figure being bandied about, or something close to
it).
In
April 2017 it was reported
that Wal-Mart acquired the category killing
Shoes.com domain name, but the price paid
wasn't known until Elliot Silver at DomainInvesting.com
and George
Kirikos worked together to dig out the
details of what turned out to be a $9 million
deal. George posted links
to bankruptcy court filings that revealed how much
money changed hands. He noted that some minor
domain names, minor TMs and social media accounts
of minimal value were included in the transaction.
Those prevent us from charting it as an all cash
domain sale but there is little doubt Wal-Mart
would have paid the full $9 million for the
Shoes.com domain alone which would have ranked as
the 6th highest sale ever reported, making the
transaction worthy of special note here.
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