Pizza.com: The $20 Domain That Sold for $2.6 Million
In 1994, the World Wide Web was the wild west of domain registration. Premium, one-word domains were available to anyone willing to pay the modest registration fee. Chris Clark, a 29-year-old consultant in North Potomac, Maryland, was one of those early pioneers—and his $20 gamble would pay off 10,000 times over.
The $20 Gamble
In 1994, Chris Clark was starting to get more clients inquiring about the Web and how to use it. Randomly, he decided to register the domain name Pizza.com for $20, not thinking much about what would come of it.
Initially, Clark hoped the domain would help him secure contracts with pizza businesses wanting to establish an internet presence. The domain did drive some interest, but didn't result in anything fruitful. Eventually, Clark decided to monetize his traffic with ad revenue—it wasn't much, but it was something.
For 14 years, Chris sat on the domain, faithfully paying the modest renewal fees.
Building a Vision
In 2006, Chris transformed Pizza.com into a tech-driven startup, taking on the role of CTO. His vision: for Pizza.com to become the primary search engine for pizza on the internet.
During this time, he started receiving more interest and offers for the domain—but not for the business he was building. Offers would come and go, but nothing was all that appetizing.
The Auction Frenzy
By 2008, the domain market had started to heat up. Clark caught wind that Vodka.com had sold for $3 million, and he decided to put a banner on his site stating it was for sale.
When he started receiving offers in the six-figures, he knew it was time to contact Sedo to explore what it would take to sell the domain through an online auction.
Clark was 43 years old and hadn't had a breakout success with any of his entrepreneurial endeavors. On March 27, 2008, the domain went up for sale through Sedo. The opening bid was $100 and, by the next morning, the auction had already reached $500,000.
The $2.6 Million Sale
The winning bid came from National A-1 Advertising, a company known for acquiring high-value domain names like Free.com, Babies.com, and Cash.com. They purchased the domain for $2.6 million.
(In an ironic twist, A-1 was later convicted of money laundering—not the way you're supposed to handle dough.)
For Clark, the money was life-changing. But that wasn't what he found most exciting. He was blown away at getting a ~10,000x return on the investment he'd made by purchasing and renewing the domain over the course of 14 years. It truly was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.
The Aftermath
Today, Pizza.com is still listed for sale, and the site hasn't evolved much in its aesthetic or appearance. It still looks like a dot-com company founded in the early 2000s.
It's somewhat mind-boggling that the site didn't eventually become a marketplace like Slice, or wasn't snatched up as a digital asset by a company like Domino's, which has leaned into eCommerce substantially over the past decade.
Looking back, Chris's only regret is that he didn't secure more digital real estate in those early days. His $20 investment in 1994 turned into $2.6 million in 2008—a 10,000x return that truly was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.