Escom LLC has sold the controversial domain name Sex.com for $13 million, according to The Register. Documents filed in a California court say that the domain was sold to Clover Holdings, a stealthy offshore firm, after winning an auction that included eleven other bidders. Domain name broker Sedo was the exclusive brokerage firm representing the domain, and it will likely take a nice percent of the sale price, although the actual figures are unknown.
Sex.com has a long history, having been purchased by Escom in 2006 for a reported $12-14 million, meaning the company didn’t really profit from it much, if at all. Escom purchased the domain name from Match.com’s founder, Gary Kremen, who had originally registered it in 1994. Escom itself was locked in battle with creditors in bankruptcy court, who had been struggling over who should represent Sex.com in an auction.
Before the sale to Escom, Kremen had to fight in court to regain Sex.com, after it was transferred away from him due to forged domain registrar documents made by conman Stephen Cohen. In 1999, Kremen recovered the domain, but in the meantime, Cohen reportedly made $6 million a year from advertising for five years straight. He was later arrested after fleeing to Mexico soon after a court issued a $65 million judgment against him.
It looks like Sex.com helped everyone win some money, but overall it caused more harm than good.
Taken from ‘techspot.com’