This transaction has been reported to be the Highest Domain Sale Recorded but it doesn’t seem to be a domain-only sale as Insure.com is developed and there are “related media assets” included in the deal.

However you look at it, it’s still great news for the domain name industry.

Why Did They Sell?

It is shocking to hear that a public company would sell its corporate brand name especially since it’s such a gem of a name. It really makes you wonder what’s going on behind the scenes to motivate this move.

Surely, this isn’t another case of “they don’t get it” as they demonstrated back in 2001 by buying the domain for US$1.6 million. And they don’t seem to have cash flow problems either as they have no debt and US$24 million of cash and investments. So, what’s going ?

It would be easy to dismiss this as a bad management decision on the basis that the corporate rebranding and brand damage caused by the name change may cost more than the receipts from the sale. However, it is quite likely that they know what they’re doing if they had the foresight to invest in the name back in 2001.

Insure.com might be a beautiful domain and brand name, but in these turbulent times, maybe it’s just better to hold US$16 million of cash in hand and be ready for opportunities that arise from the current financial crisis.