Sex falls short of the asking price

Web Domain Sex.com Sells For $13 Million


LOS ANGELES, California -- The right to use the World Wide Web domain name "Sex.com" was sold for $13 million, but the sale took a circuitous route and did not fetch as much as the seller was asking.

According to various news reports, Sex.com was officially bought for $13 million after its owner Escom sold the domain through a deal brokered by Sedo, following an order issued by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California.

Sedo said Sex.com knocked Slots.com, which was sold for $5.5 million, off the 2010 top 10 list of most expensive domain name sales.

The sale means that Sex.com -- the history of which is riddled with more dramatic twists than Debbie Does Dallas -- holds the record as the highest value domain sale to date.

Escom purchased Sex.com in 2006 for $12 million plus $2 million in equity, and the company had been hoping the sale of the domain via online auction house Sedo would attract $20 million from a buyer.

Still, the sale of Sex.com to new owner Clover Holdings Ltd. has firmly placed the domain name in the record books.