Rick Schwartz: An article from 1999 showcases the Domain King’s vision

In 1999, as the internet’s commercial era was just beginning to take shape, a new kind of marketplace emerged, one where words could become property.

The New York Times chronicled this strange new world, where speculators were listing domain names for astonishing sums on platforms like eBay and apparently Amazon.

Domain listings such as JewelersMallofAmerica.com carried price tags in the millions, while shorter, cleaner names like ad.com and hispanics.com hinted at a future in which simplicity and memorability would help define domain value.

Most eBay auctions ended without a single bid, exposing the uncertainty of this uncharted territory. Behind the clutter of awkward “e” and “i’ prefixes and dashed names, a handful of visionaries understood that domains weren’t just fleeting novelties; they were the foundation of the internet’s upcoming economy.

Owning the right domain name meant owning prime virtual real estate, a concept few grasped at the time; one that would soon reshape online commerce and branding.

When the New York Times profiled Rick Schwartz in July of 1999, he was already a rare breed: A man who viewed domains not as digital novelties, but as the building blocks of a future economy.

As the NYT article states, he called himself a “virtual real estate developer” and had quietly amassed a portfolio of over 3,000 domain names, including porno.com and men.com, both purchased in the late 1990s for what were then staggering sums.

Rick Schwartz already understood what few others did: that words on the web could hold enduring value, capable of generating income and commanding respect.

More than 25 years later, that early intuition has proven prophetic. Rick Schwartz’s disciplined refusal to sell prematurely and his knack for identifying commercially potent names have earned him the industry title of the undisputed Domain King.

Rick’s domain sales and joint ventures have since totaled in the millions of dollars, shaping the standards of valuation and negotiation that define modern domain investing. What began as a curiosity on auction platforms like eBay evolved into a complex, sophisticated marketplace where digital assets often compare to real estate in value.

To this day, Rick Schwartz continues to operate with the same conviction that made him a pioneer in the domain name industry. For this and more, we extend a sincere “thank you Rick.”

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