A clue in Zoom’s IPO filing hints at Zoom.com purchase price.
Late last year video conferencing company Zoom acquired the domain name Zoom.com. A new clue suggests that the company might have paid $2 million to acquire the domain name.
Media Options acquired the domain name last year and filed a trademark application to launch a domain name consulting service. Then it sold it to Zoom Communications, which uses the domain Zoom.us.
Zoom just filed to go public and its S-1 filing shows intangible asset purchases of $2.018 million in the fiscal year that ended January 31, 2019.
George Kirikos pointed out on twitter that $2.018 million is exactly what the company would have paid if it used Escrow.com to complete a $2.0 million transaction:
For a $2,000,000 domain name transaction paid via wire at https://t.co/i8MQK0GIO6 , the fees just happen to be $17,800.00. $2,000,000 + $17,800 = $2,017,800 which is the same as $2,018,000 when rounded to the nearest $1,000. Coincidence? @andrewrosener @MediaOptions @zoom_us
— George Kirikos (@GeorgeKirikos) March 23, 2019
It’s possible that Zoom acquired other IP last year, but $2 million seems about right for this domain name given the circumstances.
The last known sales price for Zoom.com was $350,000 in equity back in 2010. That included the domain name and some intellectual property.
Booth must be kicking himself right now
I bet he is too Gang
Ha! The luck of the Irish.
Very nice sale, congrats!
Makes perfect sense $2M + $17,800 Escrow fee
Geroge is a smart man
Was that after they allegedly threatened to sue the Booth Bros and the domain changed hands to MO?
Fake news. Never happened.
What exactly did not happen?
When I covered the acquisition of Zoom.com by Andy Booth – a sale he shared on Facebook – I was then told that the domain is in a “legal exchange” and was asked to remove the article. You had tweeted about it at the same time, pondering if it’d sell for at least $500k or more. That tweet was also removed per Andy’s request.
$2 million is a steal for Zoom.com.
Still think Andrew should of kept the domain.
When I think of “Zoom”, I think of LegalZoom or the PBS TV show from 1970s. It would be a great domain for a ride sharing company like Uber, or a self-driving car company. So it seems like a good investment for Zoom teleconferencing, as they are buying a real asset and not just the .com of their company name.
Elliot’s site is down, can someone let him know?
If this is the same ZOOM whose app is eavesdropping clandestinely via computer cameras someone out there should sue for say $US 100,000,000. For the idea I wouldn’t mind a slice of the award – I think 25% would be fine