In 2021, DNJournal listed 15 domains that sold for $1 million or more, with dozens more happening undisclosed. As ever, multi-million dollar domains are selling, but we rarely hear about them. Here, I’m listing 7 domains that I believe may have sold for $1 million or more so far in 2022.
Divvy.com
In February, proptech company Divvy completed its acquisition of the Divvy.com domain. Divvy, defined as a dividend or share, is a common brand name, used by dozens of companies, many of whom had the funds to potentially acquire this domain.
It was ultimately, though, an upgrade from DivvyHomes.com for this company. The domain was acquired from GoTo, formerly known as LogMeIn, a remote access software provider.
Divvy has raised $1.2 billion to date, and it is thought that the company likely needed at least $1 million of that to buy Divvy.com. The domain transfer was initially spotted by Jamie Zoch.
Gala.com
Gala acquired Gala.com in a deal facilitated by brokers MediaOptions. The domain was secured by Gala to expand beyond gaming into music, movies, and a wider entertainment brand. Gala originally operated entirely on Gala.games, but the ambitious Web 3 company has set its sights on reinventing more than just gaming.
The company has allocated a $5 billion fund to NFTs and has made inroads into the music industry, partnering with artists such as Snoop Dogg.
Root.com
In early March, insurance company Root made a significant domain name upgrade, over a year after it went public. With $827.5 million worth of pre- and post-IPO funding under its belt, the company went out and acquired Root.com.
The name was acquired from long time owners Root Advisors, an Indiana-based accounting company that switched domains from Root.com to RootAdvisors.com before the sale was finalized. Root.com transferred to a privacy-protected GoDaddy account and quickly began redirecting to Root’s current domain, JoinRoot.com.
Dune.com
Dune Analytics, an Ethereum-centric analytics platform founded in 2018, acquired Dune.com in February. This buy marked a significant moment for the Oslo-based startup as an upgrade from Dune.xyz.
It purchased Dune.com, which I assumed the company would begin using straight away. Instead, it Rickrolled visitors. Eventually, though, the company began using the domain
Bread.com
In late March, Elliot Silver noticed that Bread.com had transferred from a GoDaddy account registered to Ardent Mills LLC into the MarkMonitor account of Alliance Data Systems, a publicly-traded marketing and payments company.
The Bread.com domain was acquired as an upgrade for Alliance Data Systems’ Bread Payments, a brand it bought in 2020 for $450 million. Before acquiring Bread.com, Bread Payments was operating on BreadPayments.com.
Reach.com
Liberty Lending topped off its rebrand by securing an ultra-premium domain. Moving from Liberty Lending to Reach Financial, the company acquired ReachFinancial.com. It also managed to secure Reach.com for an undisclosed fee that I would place in the $1 million or more range. The strong generic domain name has helped transform a tired brand into a reinvigorated, fresh, trend company.
Diamond.com
The Diamond.com domain is familiar to anyone that has studied the NameBio or DNJournal charts. First selling in 1999 for $150,000, the domain later sold again in 2006 for $7.5 million, which remains one of the largest publicly-disclosed domain sales of all time.
In April 2022, I noticed the domain changed hands in a deal confirmed to me by the new owner. The price wasn’t disclosed, but considering the previous multi-million price tag, it’s reasonable to think that this was another seven-figure sale.
I think Diamond(.)com sold for low 8 figures.
If it transferred in Q2 2022, it was probably negotiated during VC boom peak in Q4 2021.
If new owner is publicly traded company, might show up in a SEC filing in the future.