GoDaddy: Is it For Sale?

It’s not everyday that a large chunk of the Internet is placed for sale. But there are reports that the world’s largest domain registrar, Go Daddy, has hired an investment banker and may be seeking a buyer. Go Daddy’s huge footprint in the hosting world presents an opportunity for potential bidders to quickly acquire a huge footprint in the hosting world.

Most people know Go Daddy for its provocative Super Bowl commercials, which have helped make the company the on-ramp to the Internet for millions of small businesses and web site owners. Go Daddy manages more than 43 million domains for its 8.3 million customers.

Are the sale reports true? We asked the company. “Go Daddy does not comment on rumors,” said Elizabeth Driscoll, Vice President for Public Relations.

For Many, Go Daddy = Domains

What’s undisputed is that Go Daddy’s edgy advertising and early-adopter use of social media has helped make its brand synonymous with domain names for many Americans. ”Go Daddy is one of the pioneers that have elevated domain names into the mainstream consciousness,” VeriSign CEO Mark McLaughlin said earlier this year.

In recent years the company has extended its dominance into web hosting and e-commerce. Go Daddy hosts more than 26 million web sites, making it the largest web hosting company. It has also become the second-largest issuer of SSL certificates, trailing only Symantec, which recently acquired the VeriSign SSL business. As in the domain business, Go Daddy’s aggressive pricing has helped it grow faster than incumbent players.

“Go Daddy has seen consistent and steady growth since they entered the Secure Certificate market,” said Mike Prettejohn, Director of Netcraft, which tracks the growth of SSL-enabled sites. “With their competitive pricing and licensing structure, we expect this trend to continue.”

Go Daddy is owned by Bob Parsons, a self-taught programmer and entrepreneur. After serving in the U.S. Marines and earning a Purple Heart in Vietnam, Parsons founded Parsons Technology, an accounting software business that he sold to Intuit in 1994 for $64 million. He founded Go Daddy in 1997 and entered the domain business in 2000.