Does Verisign really deserve it?

NameTower · Apr 7, 2004

21,336,063 .com names registered.
3,631,270 .net names registered.

6$ a year each from them.

24967333 domains * 6 = $149803998 per year.

473,168 .tv names registered.

making BIG money from the high profile names that are going for $100k a year
plus 500k registrations isnt bad.

And thats not enough

Sitefinder and WLS aswell.

Man when will these guys stop!

Personally I don't think the registrar's make enough money in compared to what verisign does.

The best thing they ever did was get the contract for the .com and .net names

Anyone else have any opinions on this?

Steen · Apr 7, 2004

Personally I don't think the registrar's make enough money in compared to what verisign does.

The best thing they ever did was get the contract for the .com and .net names

Anyone else have any opinions on this?

Since (circa) 2000 I don't think Verisign has made ANY money.

They are a money losing machine and are very good at it.

NameTower · Apr 7, 2004

Nameable · Apr 8, 2004

Don't confuse making money with profitability. Verisign may be spending more than they are taking in... but I agree with Jordan - they are hoovering up the bucks like MegaMaid. Registrars are governed by market forces, hence the slim margins and great service with some. The registry operator is (necessarily) a monopoly and it's easy to abuse that kind of power.

mogtnomr · Apr 8, 2004

Nameable said:
Don't confuse making money with profitability. Verisign may be spending more than they are taking in... but I agree with Jordan - they are hoovering up the bucks like MegaMaid. Registrars are governed by market forces, hence the slim margins and great service with some. The registry operator is (necessarily) a monopoly and it's easy to abuse that kind of power.

The ceo made over a million bucks in 2002. the cfo made over 1.5 mil in 2002.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=VRSN

Or look here at the insiders selling their stock..... baby must've needed new shoes (or a new private jet)...

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=VRSN

Or look here and see that the CEO is ranked in the bottom 1% of all CEO's based on performance... That pretty much says it all

http://www.forbes.com/management/2004/04/01/cx_al_0401bottomceos.html?partner=yahoo&referrer=

actnow · Apr 8, 2004

Verisign - as a company, does a lot more than just managing .com and .net

And, just because they are losing money. Does not mean that the managing the
TLDs is not the "cash cow" of the company.

Their revenue last year was over $1 billion. And, the managing the TLDs only generated $150 million.

As for the top executives earning what they did - They "might" deserve their salaries.

However, WLS will make Verisign a lot more than $150 million a year.