About Marc
Marc Ostrofsky is a renowned entrepreneur and digital pioneer known for his strategic foresight in the Internet and telecommunications industries. His innovative approaches led to the creation of influential trade magazines and the successful sale of his publishing firms for around $50 million in 1999. Among the first to recognize the value of digital real estate, he acquired domain names that would lay the foundation for his future ventures. His strategic acquisition of Business.com for $150,000 and subsequent sale of Business.com for $7.5 million not only set a Guinness World Record but also underscored his ability to anticipate digital trends.
Marc Ostrofsky is a renowned entrepreneur and digital pioneer known for his strategic foresight in the Internet and telecommunications industries.
His innovative approaches led to the creation of influential trade magazines and the successful sale of his publishing firms for around $50 million in 1999.
Among the first to recognize the value of digital real estate, he acquired domain names that would lay the foundation for his future ventures. His strategic acquisition of Business.com for $150,000 and subsequent sale of Business.com for $7.5 million not only set a Guinness World Record but also underscored his ability to anticipate digital trends.
Marc Ostrofsky has been Seen In
Over 1000+ TV, Broadcast, and Print Media Hits
1962
Born in Los Angeles, CA.
1968
Moved to Houston, TX where his father was a professor of Business and Logistics at the University of Houston. His early exposure to business laid the groundwork for his entrepreneurial journey.
1979-1983
Attended the University of Texas in Austin where he studied Business Administration and Marketing, founded the first American Marketing Association chapter at the university, obtained a real estate license, and launched at least 5 businesses.
1985
Created a trade magazine (Private PayPhone News) that turned into a full-fledged magazine (PayPhone Magazine) and led him to start several other magazines, research reports, and trade shows all in the telecom markets.
An early pioneer of Telecom Regulation, Ostrofsky published multi-client research reports and later helped launch the Voice Mail / Voice Processing Industry, the Pre-Paid Card Industry, Private PayPhone Industry, Voice over IP industry and the Computer/Telcom integration market. His two most successful conventions in the United States were called Telecom and VOICE: The Medium of Choice, both held at the Javier’s Center in NYC, and were also successful in overseas markets.
1994
Was introduced to the Internet by his sister Keri, and began buying and registering domain names.
1996
Founded Internet Domain Names, Inc. (idNames.com) to register domain names for clients that needed to protect their brands outside of the U.S. His first clients included McDonalds, Harley Davidson, and AOL.
1997
Purchased the domain name Business.com for $150,000.
Ostrofsky contacted the owner of Business.com, which at the time was a firm in the UK that sold business telephone systems, Business Systems International. Over a two week period, he negotiated a sale price of $75,000. The day before the purchase, the seller bumped up the price to $150,000. Without missing a beat, Ostrofsky took him up on the deal, but not before utilizing the power of the media to increase awareness of his new business, idNames.com, and create buzz around the purchase of his new asset. He dropped a press release saying idNames.com represented “an unidentified buyer” in the purchase of the domain name Business.com for $150,000, the most money ever paid for a single domain name at the time.
1998
Sold the international domain name registry service idNames.com to Network Solutions, which later became a division of VeriSign.
1999
Sold his publishing firms Information Publishing Corporation and MultiMedia Publishing Corp for $50 million.
Sold the domain name eflowers.com to Flowers Direct for $25,000 and a $0.50 royalty for every sale on their website, plus the delivery of a dozen roses to his wife every month for the rest of her life.
Sold Business.com for $7.5 million, landing him in the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive domain name ever sold.
After he sold his publishing companies in 1999, the media buzz around his purchase of Business.com 2 years prior for $150k was about to pay off. Jake Winebaum of eCompanies was interested in the domain name for his brand. Ostrofsky contacted Winebaum’s competitor, and the negotiations began. Winebaum won out, purchasing the domain for $7.5 million—the most expensive domain ever sold by more than double the previous record—which landed Ostrofsky in the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records.
What wasn’t reported to the media at the time was that Ostrofsky later sold another of his domains ebusiness.com to Winebaum’s competitor for $10 million.
As part the sale agreement for Business.com, Ostrofsky had the option to keep the cash or get stock in the new company over the next three years. He hedged his bet and re-invested in the stock option, with approximately 3% ownership. Business.com was sold again in 2007 for $345 million.
2002
Met Jay Steinfeld and became the first investor in nobrainerblinds.com, which transformed into Blinds.com.
2004
Co-founded Internet REIT, Inc (iREIT.com) with Bob Martin. With financial backing from Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz and his partner, Dan Levitan of Maveron Capital, Ross Perot of Perot Investments, and Jacobson Family Investments, the company amassed over 375k domains and sold the traffic to Google through Pay-Per-Click. In 2006, Ostrofsky left day-to-day operations of iREIT but remaiend on the Board.
2007
Business.com was sold for $345 million.
2011
Published Get Rich Click!, a New York Times Bestseller.
2013
Released Word of Mouse: 101+ Trends in How We Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work, and Play
2014
Blinds.com became the #1 e-commerce site for window coverings, growing to $100 million in revenue by 2014 when it was acquired by Home Depot for $200+ million.
2018
Sold Cufflinks.com, a niche company he had previously invested in, following his teachings that online, “the riches are in the niches.”
2023
After the Ticketmaster debacle with Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, Ostrofsky was able to capitalize on another niche domain he owned, etickets.com. The domain previously pointed traffic to a third party that ran a ticket site, and he received commission from any purchases made through his domain. Ostrofsky received offers to sell the domain and sold it in 2023.
ONGOING
Ostrofsky still owns a variety of high quality domains, and serves on multiple boards helping entrepreneurs and senior executives build, manage and ultimately sell their companies.
