Man Who Tried To Sell 'Lambo.com' To Lamborghini For A World-Record Price Gets Nothing Instead

The former owner of "lambo.com" will likely go into the pantheon of folks who badly fumbled the bag. After purchasing the domain Lambo.com in 2018 for $10,000 Richard Blair decided it was time to cash out on his investment and seemingly was in a great spot to make a nice margin. He then decided to play a game of chicken with one of the most litigious types on the planet — an Italian car company.

Now, domains can vary widely in price. From a couple bucks all the way up to eight figures. After an initial investment of $10,000, what would you think a healthy return would look like? $100,000? $250,000? A million dollars wouldn't be unworldly, even if pricey. Well, Blair seemingly decided that these profit margins were for losers eventually Spinto Veloce'ing the price up to a massive $75 million, according to TechRadar. For context, "Chat.com" sold in 2023 for $15.5 million, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that Blair could hit eight figures. Blair apparently looked at the domain market, saw some record sales, and figured he could "negotiate." As he would soon learn, however, there is a fine line between aggressive negotiating and extortion.

This is where the story goes from standard domain-squatting to comedy gold. When you buy a domain that clearly references a trademark or intellectual property (IP), you usually need a legitimate reason to own it. Now let's be real, "Lambo" essentially means one thing to the entire world — Lamborghini, the carmaker that creates wedge-shaped noise machines for people who hate their neighbors. Blair's legal strategy was trying to convince the courts that he was actually "Lambo." According to arbitration docs, he claimed the moniker was a play on "Lamb," more bizarrely, distilled from the phrase "Lamb of outlier generic aptitude and intelligence." Alright then.

The problem with Blair's defense was timing. Records showed Blair did not start calling himself "Lambo," specifically online, until after he bought the domain name. At the end of the day, no one was buying what he was trying to sell. After an arbitration firm decided Blair had no right to the name, the case then went to court. A district court ultimately ruled that Blair's actions defied all common and legal sense and called his practice of incremental price increases as indirect extortion. The final verdict was Blair had no rights to the name, did not act in good faith, and was to surrender the domain to Lamborghini ... ouch.

So if you're keeping score, he almost certainly lost a small fortune in legal fees fighting a massive corporation in federal court. He lost the initial $10,000 investment. And he lost the domain. Maybe Mr. Blair was better off putting that cash into one of these enthusiast cars instead. This case sets a direct precedent for domain-squatters who think they can hide behind thin veils of known brands. Sure, "lambo" could refer to a sheep, but let's be real, when you price it at $75 million, you aren't selling to sheep farmers. So if you are looking to buy "rarri.com" for $300,000 and hoping to turn a profit selling it to Ferrari — think again.