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TheDomains.com

Who is the greatest domainer of all time?

July 17, 2017 by Raymond Hackney

Last July we asked who was the greatest domainer of all time? Things change from year to year, some people raise their profile, others sail off into the sunset or have a setback in their domaining career.

Last year Rick Schwartz ran away with the vote, now every possible person who could have been nominated was not listed in the choices, so as not to snub anyone feel free to list your choice.

So this year just leave a comment, I will tabulate by hand. You can only list one person, comments with multiple entries will not be counted.

Last year:

Full results below:

Rick Schwartz
98
  36%
Frank Schilling
69
  25%
Yun Ye
23
    8%
Michael Berkens
16
    6%
Igal Lichtman
12
    4%
Kevin Ham
10
    4%
Mike Mann
9
    3%
Castello Brothers
8
    3%
Turakhia Brothers (Directi, Radix)
7
    3%
Andrew Rosener
7
    3%
Rob Grant
3
    1%
John Xu (Owner 4.CN)
2
    1%
Bob Parsons
2
    1%
George Kirikos
2
    1%
Scott Day
2
    1%
Chris Chena
1
    0%
Thunayan Al-Ghanim
1
    0%
Eric Borgos
1
    0%
Mike Zappy Zapolin
0
    0%
Anything.com
0
    0%
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Filed Under: Domain Industry

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Comments

  1. VR says

    July 17, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    Mike Mann, he sells bad names for great prices, anyone can sell a LL.com or NNN.com.

  2. Domenclature.com says

    July 17, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    The operating word being “Smartest”, I cast my vote for a tie, Schwartz and Parson, but since that’s not allowed, Schwartz gets the whole thing .

    • Domenclature.com says

      July 17, 2017 at 4:38 pm

      But, if I go with the operating word “greatest”, then Parsons takes it.

  3. Donna Mahony says

    July 17, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    Adam Strong

  4. Koosah says

    July 17, 2017 at 4:32 pm

    Frank Schilling

  5. jose says

    July 17, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    Me

  6. Tim says

    July 17, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    Nat Cohen for me is №1

  7. CasinosVR says

    July 17, 2017 at 4:55 pm

    Rick definitely .
    He is one of the most important person who created the domain market. I learned most from him because he is a person who shares his experiences.

    • bobbles says

      July 17, 2017 at 5:00 pm

      Scott Day

  8. Nathan Edwards says

    July 17, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    1) Adam Dicker
    2) Hank Alvarez
    3) Rick Latona
    4) Dana Patrick
    5) .ws team

    • Dn Ebook says

      July 17, 2017 at 7:52 pm

      LOL ….. The Internet never forgets!

    • Jh says

      July 19, 2017 at 2:56 pm

      Nailed Nathan, love Alvarez and Dicker 😉

  9. Ben pedri says

    July 17, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    I would have to say drew rosner. This because if this crazy bastard started today with zero he would be up to a million in no time . i think shilling was an animal in his heyday and it wasent an easy time still he ended up with a super premium portfolio. So these vuys in my opinion and for different reasons are the best .

  10. STRIKER says

    July 17, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    Simce you summarily erased my first comment, I shall try again:

    Donald Trump gets my vote.

    Trump.com is arguably the most valuable domain that ever was, or will be registered.

  11. YamadaMedia says

    July 17, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    Raymond Hackney 🙂

  12. Jonny says

    July 17, 2017 at 5:39 pm

    I get some people want to be provocative and others are idiotic trolls who it’s just a shame their parents weren’t sterile. But there are really only 5 or 6 choices and everyone else is just ridiculous.

    Adam Strong, Donald Trump and no offense to you Raymond but I think you know you are not.

    I give it to Rick Schwartz, without him some of the others would have been selling used panties on Ebay instead of selling domain names.

    • Raymond Hackney says

      July 17, 2017 at 5:44 pm

      Yes Jonny I know I am not the greatest domainer of all time, thank you.

      • Mark Thorpe says

        July 17, 2017 at 5:50 pm

        But you are the best domain blogger, Ray.

    • VR says

      July 17, 2017 at 7:49 pm

      Yeah people think they are funny, they are not.

      Tend to agree not sure Adam Strong is in the top tier. I mean Chernoff would be above him imho.

  13. Mark Thorpe says

    July 17, 2017 at 5:45 pm

    Rick Schwartz, because he was a trailblazer.
    But Mike Mann is a close second. Only Mike can sell certain domains that no one else could.
    They both promote .com domains too! Smart.

  14. Peterpan says

    July 17, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    Domain king stays the undisputed king

    • Ben pedri says

      July 17, 2017 at 7:45 pm

      i think that if rick would have started 10 years later no one would even know who is is right now. He was one of the first to the game and was picking up fruit just lying in the street.So although he has become rich and famous he had a great edge forsite .thats what i give him the top prize for.

  15. Ted Green says

    July 17, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    Mike Mann and his 50.00 Burgers

  16. steve brady says

    July 17, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Craig of Craigslist, who only needed one domain that to this day is helping millions of people sell an item for free, including domain names.

    Craig Newmark Founded Craigslist To Give Back, Now He’s A Billionaire
    forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2017/05/03/how-does-craigslist-make-money/

    Google “domain names on craigslist” The #1 result is:
    How To Sell a Domain Name on Craigslist.com – DomainSherpa
    domainsherpa.com/how-to-sell-a-domain-name-on-craigslist-com/

    Just guessing.

  17. Drums says

    July 17, 2017 at 7:00 pm

    Daniel Negari for selling 1 cent domains..

    On a serious note, my vote for this year: Mike Berkins!. I believe he holds the best GTLD portfolio.

  18. Surya says

    July 17, 2017 at 8:40 pm

    I still choose Rick Schwartz as the biggest domainer. Mike Mann for best domain marketer ever. Schilling for domain innovator, since most of his idea for future. Godaddy for registrar. .xyz registry for domain registry.

    Mike Mann is a man that has sold alot of domains, more than anyone, the second biggest domainer for me..

  19. Jared Reichbaum says

    July 17, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    Surprised I don’t see my name on this list… AverageDomains.com

    • VR says

      July 18, 2017 at 12:15 am

      Someone has to have heard you to nominate you. #Nobody

  20. Jens Weegar says

    July 17, 2017 at 11:07 pm

    Rick Schwartz

  21. jeff says

    July 17, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    Rick is king and always will be.

  22. gabriel says

    July 17, 2017 at 11:50 pm

    Not Schwartz because he got lucky and got in early. The best domainer to me would be someone who made his fortune with hard work.

    • VR says

      July 18, 2017 at 12:15 am

      Rick didn’t work? Guess what a lot of people were around in 95 – 97 they didn’t make what Rick made. #Ignorant

      • CasinosVR says

        July 18, 2017 at 5:20 am

        In 95-97 Rick saw what others did not.

  23. Richard says

    July 18, 2017 at 3:42 am

    Have to go with Mike Mann.

    Sold Buydomains and then just went on and regged another 250k names. Just crazy.

  24. Rich says

    July 18, 2017 at 3:46 am

    Frank Schilling by far.
    started from scratch and is the richest from selling domain names and innovating the domain industry.

    • VR says

      July 18, 2017 at 9:20 am

      That statement is inaccurate, Frank has not made more money than Yun Ye.

      • Rich says

        July 19, 2017 at 6:19 am

        Yes he has and on top of that he still has 400 k names plus about 30 some extensions.

  25. nba says

    July 18, 2017 at 3:50 am

    Reberry Brothers

  26. Supratik Basu says

    July 18, 2017 at 4:41 am

    Frank…the Mozart of domain names

  27. Stovinci says

    July 18, 2017 at 9:34 am

    Rick by a mile !! No question

  28. KW BOSWELL says

    July 18, 2017 at 10:37 am

    Rick Schwartz gets my vote. Not only does he work smarter, he has not kept anything top secret.
    He knows how to find deals, predicting which domains will go up in value. I learned valuable data at the tradeshows of the past, where domainers would get together. Reading Ricksblog.com, “especially” at the time that it was written, was like getting a daily code to make more money. He left a map that gives you the best odds to future success, like no boardroom can do. Making a business with a domain name, beats being unemployed. You could write a cigar blog, or write about hot products, whatever it is just start going places!!

  29. steve says

    July 18, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    Rick is the greatest domainer of all time for these reasons:

    1) He got in early, as he saw the future opportunities;
    2) He also helped create the domain industry, with conferences and his blog;
    3) He provides excellent advice;
    4) Quite simply he’s the Roger Federer of Domaining – and he’s back, as is Roger!
    5) He also warned potential GTLD investors about the risks, and these warnings have proven he has been right, as so many GTLDs are running on fumes

    • steve brady says

      July 18, 2017 at 1:55 pm

      Good points, since the actual greatest guitar player of all time isn’t capable of playing in front of a live audience and remains unknown to all, the title goes to Eddie Van Halen who got there 5 years earlier than the rest who later emulated him. It is what it is.

  30. MG says

    July 18, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    A list such as this has just got to include Skip Hoagland somewhere on it.

  31. Charley says

    July 18, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    I’d say Thunayan Alghanim(Elequa) is the greatest.

  32. Sameh says

    July 18, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    Frank Schilling

  33. Dan Gustafson says

    July 18, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    Congrats to all!

  34. whatever says

    July 18, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    Rick Schwartz

  35. Roy Barrett says

    July 19, 2017 at 10:36 am

    Scott Day
    Frank Schiling
    Kevin Ham

  36. Jh says

    July 19, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    Yun Ye gets my vote 🙂
    NoName.

  37. Alex says

    July 19, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    Mike Mann hands down, he can sell a reg fee name for what the NAMES are really worth.
    The price tags are actually not as impressive, as his ability to SEE the value where others don’t and extract that value when he sells!
    He’s A BEAST….the others just have great no brain value names like LL.com, Singlewords.coms etc etc that are worth a lot from the get go..

  38. Patricia Kaehler says

    July 20, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    Rick Schwartz (shares – cares)
    ~Patricia
    .
    .
    .


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