GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company. As of January 2016, GoDaddy was said to have had more than 61 million domain names under management, making it the world's largest ICANN-accredited registrar. It serves more than 13 million customers and employs more than 4,000 people. The company is known for its celebrity spokespeople, Super Bowl ads and as being an online provider for small businesses. In addition to a postseason college football bowl game, it sponsors NASCAR. It has been involved in several controversies related to security and privacy.

In addition to domain registration and hosting, GoDaddy also sells e-business related software and services.

History

GoDaddy was founded by Bob Parsons. Prior to GoDaddy, Parsons sold his financial software services company, "Parsons Technology, Inc." to Intuit. The sale provided him with several million dollars in the mid-1990s. As a result, Parsons decided to retire. Parsons came out of his retirement in 1997 to launch Jomax Technologies, which later became GoDaddy Group Inc. GoDaddy received a strategic investment from top venture capital funds, KKR, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures.