Harvey Levin bought the domain name for just $5,000 back in 2005.
“The domain name tmz.com, however, was owned by a man who built robots—the site’s initials stood for “Team Minus Zero”—and he showed little interest in selling. “We had the guy’s name, and we knew that he worked at a computer-parts company.
“One day, Levin decided to go see the man, and he asked to borrow someone modest rental car, so that he wouldn’t appear to be wealthy. (Levin drove a Mercedes.) “Harvey called him up, went over, wrote him a check for five grand, and bought the URL”
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“The domain name tmz.com, however, was owned by a man who built robots—the site’s initials stood for “Team Minus Zero”—and he showed little interest in selling. “We had the guy’s name, and we knew that he worked at a computer-parts company.
“One day, Levin decided to go see the man, and he asked to borrow someone modest rental car, so that he wouldn’t appear to be wealthy. (Levin drove a Mercedes.) “Harvey called him up, went over, wrote him a check for five grand, and bought the URL”
Source