Halsey Minor

Halsey Minor (born 1964 in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA) is a technology entrepreneur who founded CNET in 1993 (initial plans for the company began in 1992). Minor ran CNET for 8 years during which time it became one of the Internet's first companies to achieve profitability. The company's many achievements were recognized in 1999 when CNET was selected as one of only 2 Internet companies to join the elite NASDAQ 100 which included companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Home Depot, and Dell. Minor also developed 2 other spin-off companies which independent of CNET became public entities: Vignette Software and Snap/NBCi. Minor is currently investing in new companies in a broad range of fields via Minor Ventures.

Minor attended Woodberry Forest School and the University of Virginia, where he was a member of St. Elmo Hall and received a degree in anthropology. After graduation, he worked at Merrill Lynch, before moving on to start his own company. In the late 1980s, he collaborated briefly with Jeff Bezos, the future founder of Amazon.com on a personalized news business plan. Minor was also the founding and largest investor as well as silent partner in the development of salesforce.com.

On September 42007, Minor announced the development of a new 5 star hotel located in downtown Charlottesville. The hotel is intended to be 9 stories and continue the ongoing revitalization of historic downtown Charlottesville.

On December 192007 the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation announced that Halsey purchased the historic Carter's Grove plantation on convert|400|acre|km2 for $15.3 million and that he "plans to use the mansion as a private residence and use the site as a center for a thoroughbred horse-breeding program." [ [http://hamptonroads.com/2007/12/carter%2526%2523039%3Bs-grove-mansion-sells-$15.3-million Carter's Grove mansion sells for $15.3 million | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com ] ]

As of July 2008, Minor has found interest in the Historic thoroughbred race track, Hialeah Park Race Track, which opened in 1925. He wants to buy Hialeah Park, and restore it to its original state and bring back racing. Together with Alex Fuentes and Citizens to Save Hialeah Park, they are making a run to save the historic track. John Brunetti, the owner of Hialeah Park, and Minor, have just recently spoken but no dollar figures have been discussed.

Dispute with Sotheby's

On May 22, 2008, Minor was the winnning bidder in a Sotheby's auction of Edward Hicks' The Peaceable Kingdom, with a hammer price of $9.6 million, a record for the artist. Minor also won two other paintings, "Diamond Dust Shoes" by Andy Warhol and "Paris, Winter Days," by Childe Hassam. "The Peaceable Kingdom" had been on loan to the American Folk Art Museum from 2000 until 2008. The painting was owned by Ralph O. Esmerian, who took it back to pay his debts to Sotheby's, Christie's, and Merrill Lynch. Minor failed to pay for these paintings, and in September Sotheby's sued him. [ [http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/TradeTalk/2008-09-09__12-42-41.html "Sotheby's Sues Buyer of Peaceable Kingdom"] ] In October, Minor countersued, contending the Sotheby's had had an interest in "The Peaceable Kingdom" that they did not disclose. Minor sought to have his countersuit designated as a class action.

References

* [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.03/bezos_pr.html Wired Magazine: The Inner Bezos]
* [http://hamptonroads.com/2007/12/carter%2526%2523039%3Bs-grove-mansion-sells-$15.3-million Virginia Pilot Newspaper December 19, 2007 "Carter's Grove mansion sells"]