When we stumbled upon Milk.com, we were mystified. It appears to be someone’s personal website. But memorable domain names can be worth a million dollars or more. So, why is someone using this valuable internet real estate to post their resume and favorite recipes?
Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto assets that can sell for millions of dollars. These potential profits have attracted a unique breed of investor who buys and sells domain names, gambling on the value of everyday words.
On our latest show: What is a domain really worth? And we ask the owner of milk.com why he’s not selling — and if there’s a price that might change his mind.
Planet Money is writing a book! Sign up for updates about pre-sale special gifts and for book tour events.
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
This episode was hosted by Alex Mayyasi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money‘s executive producer.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
A primer on the Federal Reserve’s independence
President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing politics by keeping interest rates high. Trump has also threatened…
-
How much for that egg
Recently, one of our NPR colleagues wrote a message to all of NPR saying he had extra eggs to sell for cheap, but needed a fair way to distribute them during a shortage. What is…
-
OIRA: The tiny office that’s about to remake the federal government
OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful.…
-
Trade war dispatch from Canada
How do you run a business when a trade war is brewing? As President Trump’s tariffs kick in – or are paused or are restarted – businesses around the world are trying to navigate the…
-
Do trade deficits matter?
At the heart of President Trump’s tariffs is this idea that we should not be buying more from other countries than they are buying from us. Basically, he wants to get rid of the trade…
-
How the War on Drugs got us… blueberries
Ever wondered why you can buy fresh Peruvian blueberries in the dead of winter? The answer, surprisingly, is tied to cocaine. Today on the show, we look at how the War on Drugs led to…
-
Tariffs: What are they good for?
What are tariffs good for? For years, mainstream economists have basically said: tariffs are not good. They are an import tax paid by consumers, they’ve said, and they discourage free trade, and we want more!…
-
PM x Radiolab: Can the economy grow forever?
Earth can sustain life for another 100 million years, but can we? This episode, we partner with Radiolab to take stock of the essential raw materials that enable us to live as we do here…
-
Planet Money buys a mystery diamond
The deal seemed too good to be true. There’s a website that’s been selling top quality diamonds at bizarrely low prices. Prices we couldn’t find at any retail outlet. Prices so low, we could buy…
-
Can we just change how we measure GDP?
There’s one statistic that rules them all when it comes to keeping track of the economy: gross domestic product (GDP). It’s the sum of all final transactions, so all the goods or services bought and…