- Marc Ostrofsky
-
Marc Ostrofsky 
Born October 28, 1961 Occupation Author, Entrepreneur, Investor Genres Nonfiction Notable work(s) Get Rich Click Marc Ostrofsky is the New York Times Bestselling author of Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money Online. The book was #1 on USA TODAY Bestselling books, #1 on the Wall Street Journal Bestselling business books list, #1 on Barnes & Noble as well as #1 Amazon.com in multiple categories.[1]
Ostrofsky has made multiple appearances in mainstream media including ABC's Better TV.[2] He also appeared on CBS News May 21, 2011. On June 9, 2011, he was featured on The View with his book Get Rich Click.[3]
Before writing his first book, Ostrofsky was a "domain name" investor, who has been called a "Technology Wildcatter" in the Houston Business Journal.[4] His venture capital firm has created a number of successful telecommunication, publishing and internet based companies. He is the co-founder of hundreds of web properties.[5] He was a founder in Internet REIT (iREIT) (also known as www.iREIT.com), which acquires, develops and sells internet traffic "wholesale" to Google for them to resell to others on a "PayPerClick" basis with partners Ross Perot and Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks.[6]
He is known for his record sale of Business.com in 1999 for $7.5 million to eCompanies which landed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive domain name ever sold,[7] although the final value of the sale was closer to $2 million in cash and stock.[8] Business.com was sold in 2008 for $345 million which landed Ostrofsky another windfall.[9] He coined the phrase "Domain names and web sites are the real estate of the Internet" when he bought Business.com for $150,000 in the mid 90's, which had been the most money ever paid for a domain name at that time.[10]
Ostrofsky founded five high tech Internet and telecommunications magazines and a dozen technology trade shows, which were later sold to Advanstar Publishing for $8,000,000. He then created and sold Multimedia Publishing Corporation (another firm holding magazines, trade shows and web sites) to Primedia (NYSE: PRM) for $35,000,000.[11]
He currently owns operating web sites including eTickets.com, CuffLinks.com, SummerCamps.com and is a major shareholder and board member in Blinds.com, a $74 Million a year web site selling window blinds and window coverings. Blinds.com was ranked #186 on the Internet Retailer 500, and was the 10th fastest growing site on the list. He coined the term "Domain Names are Internet Real Estate" and owns some of the best domain names in the world including Bachelor.com, MutualFunds.com, Photographer.com, Consulting.com, HeartDisease.com, BeautyProducts.com, TechToys.com, and over 500 other top level domains.
He was one of the early pioneers and founders of the voice mail/voice processing market, the private pay phone market, the operator services market, the telecom reseller & VOIP market and the prepaid telephone card market in the United States.[12]
Ostrofsky donated a sculpture to the City of Houston that now resides at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Terminal B, Houston, Texas.[13]
Prior to these ventures, Ostrofsky organized several internet and telecommunications magazines and technology trade shows. The assets of Information Publishing Corporation were later sold to Advanstar Publishing, and the assets of his next venture, MultiMedia Publishing Corporation were later sold to Primedia.[11]
He also founded www.idNames.com, an international domain name registry service that was sold to Network Solutions, and is now a division of VeriSign.[14]
Ostrofsky has been interviewed on major television networks, newspapers and wire services. He is a professional speaker domestically and internationally on entrepreneurship on the internet. He was a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and was the initial creator of the Internet Commerce Association (ICA).[15]
Ostrofsky has identical twin daughters, Kelly and Shelly, who graduated co-valedictorians of their high school which got them on the front page of the Houston Chronicle [16] and USA TODAY with President George Bush.[17] Ostrofsky has a third daughter who is a few years younger. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a major in Marketing.
References
- ^ Bestseller Status
- ^ Better TV
- ^ The View
- ^ Tech wildcatter sells company for $35 million
- ^ Staking a claim on domains beyond dot-com August, 2006
- ^ Typo.com May, 2006
- ^ Most Valuable Domain Name May, 2005
- ^ Newsweek Article: Sticking to the business
- ^ R.H. Donnelley to buy Business.com for $345 mln
- ^ Bellevue Domain Roundtable to Address Explosive Growth Market of “Internet Real Estate” January, 2006
- ^ a b Tech wildcatter sells company for $35 million October, 1999
- ^ Inside iREIT: How a Startup Company Became an Industry Giant Overnight August, 2006
- ^ [1]
- ^ Network Solutions' idNames Launches Domain Associate Program May, 2000
- ^ DN Journal Newsletter January, 2007
- ^ [2] June, 2008
- ^ [3] July, 2008
External links
- Forbes Interview
- The Name Game by Robert A Mamis, Inc. Magazine, May 15, 2000
- Teen Business Forum Interview
- [4]
Categories:- American computer businesspeople
- University of Texas at Austin alumni
- Living people
- 1961 births
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
