TLDH grows its cash pile thanks to losing two private auctions.
Top Level Domain Holdings will add $4.81 million to its cash reserves as a result of losing private auctions for .website and .lawyer, the company announced today.
$130,000 is from refunds for withdrawing its two applications, bringing the total auction proceeds down to $4.68 million.
This doesn’t tell us too much about the winning bids for .website and .lawyer. There were three competitors for .website, which means that the proceeds from that auction were split between TLDH and the other losing applicant (Donuts).
Still, this is more information than we typically get from these private auctions. Auction terms require the parties to keep the information private. But when a small public company is involved, the proceeds become material and are likely to be reported.
TLDH originally said it would not participate in private auctions, but later changed its mind. The results from this auction explain why it got on board.
acroplex says
Brilliant. Here’s the new plan:
1. Apply for a gTLD that has a high chance of being contested.
2. Play hardball for a while, stating you will fight tooth an nail for it.
3. Negotiate behind the scenes to relinquish your interest for a few million dollars.
4. Lose the application, get a partial refund.
5. Rinse and repeat.
Seems that only DotGreen.org were honest players in the gTLD game.