The mid-1990s domain gold rush created fortunes, lawsuits, and legends. Some people registered names that would be worth millions. Others grabbed trademarks that weren’t theirs. A few had the vision to see that internet addresses would matter as much as physical addresses. These are their stories.
The First .com
On March 15, 1985, symbolics.com became the first registered .com domain.
Symbolics, Inc. was a Massachusetts-based computer company that manufactured Lisp machines — specialized computers for artificial intelligence research. They were early internet adopters who needed a domain for email and file sharing.
There was nothing special about the registration at the time. No fanfare. No press release. Just a technical necessity for a tech company.
Symbolics’ Fate
The Symbolics company failed in the 1990s, a casualty of the AI winter and commodity hardware. But their domain lived on.
In 2009, XF.com Investments purchased symbolics.com. The domain now serves as a monument to internet history, with a page celebrating its “first .com” status.
The irony: the first domain registered would outlive the company that created it.
The First Six
Here are the first six .com registrations, all in 1985:
| Date | Domain | Company |
|---|---|---|
| March 15 | symbolics.com | Symbolics, Inc. |
| April 24 | bbn.com | BBN Technologies |
| May 24 | think.com | Think Computer Corporation |
| July 11 | mcc.com | MCC |
| September 30 | dec.com | Digital Equipment Corporation |
| November 7 | northrop.com | Northrop Corporation |
All were technology or defense companies — reflecting the ARPANET’s origins. It would be years before non-tech companies realized they needed domains.
Generic Name Gold
The real gold rush was for generic names — single words that described products, services, or concepts.
business.com
In 1996, Marc Ostrofsky registered business.com for $150,000 — at the time, an outrageous price. Critics called him crazy.
Three years later, in 1999, he sold it for $7.5 million. That record lasted only briefly.
In 2007, business.com sold again for approximately $350 million (though the exact figure was disputed, this included more than just the domain).
Ostrofsky’s early conviction that domains had value was vindicated spectacularly.
wine.com
In 1994, a wine enthusiast named Peter Granoff registered wine.com when it was still free. He started a small wine commerce site.
By 1998, during the dot-com boom, investors valued wine.com at over $100 million. The domain itself became one of the most valuable in the wine industry.
hotels.com
Hotels.com was registered in 1994 and eventually became one of the most valuable travel domains. It passed through multiple owners before Expedia acquired it, turning a simple generic word into a multi-billion-dollar travel brand.
cars.com
Registered in 1996 by a consortium of newspaper publishers who saw the threat the internet posed to classified advertising. They were right — cars.com became a dominant automotive marketplace.
The Squatter Stories
Not all early registrants had noble intentions. Some simply grabbed names they didn’t own.
panavision.com
Dennis Toeppen registered panavision.com — the name of a famous camera equipment company — despite having no connection to them. He offered to sell it to Panavision for $13,000.
Panavision refused and sued. In 1998, a court ruled against Toeppen in one of the first major cybersquatting decisions. He had to surrender the domain.
This case established that registering a trademark with intent to sell it back violated both trademark law and the emerging understanding of domain ethics.
mcdonalds.com
Journalist Joshua Quittner registered mcdonalds.com in 1994 to illustrate how unprepared corporations were for the internet. He wrote about it for Wired magazine.
McDonald’s eventually worked out a deal — reportedly, they funded computer equipment for a Brooklyn school in exchange for the domain. Quittner had made his point.
mtv.com
Adam Curry, a former MTV VJ, registered mtv.com in 1993. He used it for an early web presence, arguably helping promote MTV’s brand online.
But MTV (Viacom) wanted the domain back. After a legal battle, MTV eventually recovered the domain. The case highlighted the messy intersection of personal and corporate interests in early domain registration.
The Speculators
Some early registrants weren’t squatting on trademarks — they were betting on generic value.
Mike Mann’s Empire
Mike Mann became legendary for registering thousands of domains. He founded BuyDomains.com and at one point controlled over 750,000 domains.
His strategy: register generic names for $35, sell them for $5,000 to $50,000 when businesses came looking. Volume made the economics work.
Esther Dyson’s Warning
Internet pioneer Esther Dyson predicted in 1995 that domain names would become like real estate — valuable addresses in a new geography. She was mocked at the time.
She was right.
The Professional Domainers
By the late 1990s, “domaining” became a profession. People would:
- Analyze traffic patterns to find valuable names
- Buy expiring domains at auction
- Build portfolios of thousands of domains
- Monetize with parking pages and ads
This was the birth of the domain aftermarket — a multi-billion-dollar industry today.
The Accidental Millionaires
Some people registered domains with no idea what they had.
sex.com
Gary Kremen registered sex.com in 1994, recognizing its obvious value. But in 1995, a convicted fraudster named Stephen Cohen forged documents to transfer the domain to himself.
What followed was one of the most famous domain theft cases in history. Cohen made millions from the domain’s traffic. Kremen spent years fighting for it back.
In 2001, a court ordered Cohen to pay Kremen $65 million in damages. Kremen eventually recovered the domain. Cohen fled to Mexico.
Sex.com later sold for $13 million in 2010 — reportedly the highest price ever paid for a domain at public auction.
pizza.com
Chris Clark registered pizza.com in 1994 when he was building a small hosting business. He didn’t do much with it for years.
In 2008, he sold pizza.com for $2.6 million to an entrepreneur who built a pizza ordering service.
Clark’s story became a domaining legend: register a good generic name, wait, profit.
The Corporate Awakening
By 1996-1997, corporate America woke up. Companies realized that:
- Their brand name domains might be taken
- Generic terms in their industry were valuable
- Controlling domain strategy was now essential
This triggered a corporate land rush. Companies registered every variation of their name, plus defensive registrations, plus industry terms. Domain portfolios for major corporations grew to thousands of domains.
Lessons from the Gold Rush
The early domain gold rush taught several lessons that still apply:
Timing Matters
The biggest winners registered before domains had obvious value. Once everyone knew domains mattered, the easy pickings were gone.
Generic Names Have Value
Words like “business,” “wine,” “hotels,” and “cars” became worth millions because they represented entire industries.
Trademarks Matter (Eventually)
Early squatters got away with it briefly, but eventually trademark law caught up. Pure squatting became legally risky.
Speculation Can Pay Off
Unlike most speculative investments, early domain speculation paid off spectacularly for those who chose wisely.
Key Takeaways
- Symbolics.com was the first .com, registered March 15, 1985
- Generic domains became incredibly valuable — business.com sold for $7.5M in 1999
- Cybersquatters grabbed trademarks, leading to lawsuits and new laws
- Professional domaining emerged as a real industry by the late 1990s
- Accidental fortunes were made by those who registered early
- Corporate awakening triggered defensive registration rushes
Next: The DNS Wars
The gold rush created enormous wealth — and enormous conflicts. Network Solutions’ monopoly, Jon Postel’s bold move, government intervention, and the birth of ICANN all converged in what became known as the DNS Wars.