Bob Parsons

Country:	USA
Email:	president [at] godaddy.com
Website:	[bobparsons.me bobparsons.me]
Twitter:	@DRBOBPARSONS

Bob Parsons is the Founder and CEO of GoDaddy Group Inc, an ICANN accredited domain name registrar based in Arizona. He owns 78% share of the company and he is considered one of the wealthiest man in the United States with a reported net worth of $1.5 billion dollars and ranked 293rd in the 2011 Forbes 400 Rich List. Parsons s also described by his colleagues in the domain name industry as a risk taker by hiring Candice Michelle, a porn star to become Go Daddy's endorser in its first Superbowl commercial in 2005. The company became more popular and Parsons was recognized as a marketing genius.

In 2011, Parsons entered a partnership agreement with technology investment firms KKR, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures 65% of the company's share for $2.25 billion to $2.5 billion. Parsons explained that under the agreement he will serve as Executive Chairman and remains the largest single shared holder in the company. In addition, 36 employees will receive $1 million plus checks. As Executive Chairman, Bob will concentrate on Go Daddy's marketing and commercials.

In the company's press release, Parson's was quoted, "People have asked me, with all the success Go Daddy is having, why bring in partners now? My response is simple. This is the right group of people at just the right time.These three firms have what it takes to help lift Go Daddy to the next level. KKR, Silver Lake and TCV each have a keen sense for technology and a proven savvy with international business affairs. We know our new partners can help Go Daddy expand in ways that make sense for both our customers and our company. That's why I have insisted on continuing as Go Daddy's single largest shareholder."

Bob has a weekly satellite radio talk show, "Life Online" and maintains a personal blog.

Career History

After earning his Degree in Accounting, he joined a direct mail company. His entry in the technology industry was incidental after he was sent by his company to San Francisco bay area to accomplish an accounting job. He strolled in a bookstore at Stanford University to pass time and bought a book on BASIC programming. He read the book and began experimenting with a computer. He developed a tax/finance program. In 1984, he established Parsons Technology and started selling the software. The company had 1,000 employees when he sold to Intuit in 1994 for $64 million and moved to Arizona. In 1997, Bob founded Jomax Technologies. He renamed the company as GoDaddy in 1999 and became an ICANN accredited registrar in 2000.

Awards

• He earned a Combat Action Ribbon while serving as a Combat Rifleman in the Vietnam war.
• He received the "Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year" award in 2005.
• In 2007, he was selected as the Arizona Business Leader.
• In 2010, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Baltimore and named it distinguished entrepreneur.

Education

• He holds a Bachelor degree in Accounting from the University of Baltimore.
• He has a CPA degree, which he earned from the same University.

Personal Life

Bob was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He says that his family was financially poor and he had earned whatever he received. He has been working since long, some time selling newspaper, the other time pumping gas or doing work at a factory.

Bob has a taste for motorcycles and covered almost 85,000 miles on his bikes.

Bob Parsons 16 Rules for Success

Bob believes that a person will be successful in business and in life by following his 16 rules:

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
2. Never give up.
3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think.
4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be.
5. Focus on what you want to happen.
6. Take things a day at a time.
7. Always be moving forward.
8. Be quick to decide.
9. Measure everything of significance.
10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing.
12. Never let anybody push you around.
13. Never expect life to be fair.
14. Solve your own problems.
15. Don't take yourself too seriously.
16. There's always a reason to smile.

ICANN Involvement

Bob is actively involved in the different activities and issues within the ICANN community. In 2003, Bob wrote to Dan Halloran, ICANN Chief Registrar Liaison that he supports Dotster's objecting to the proposal of Verisign to implement a Waiting List Service (WLS). According to him, WLS has a negative impact on the registrar market by providing Verisign the leverage to monopolize the retail domain name market and it will also eliminate and replace the existing back order mechanisms implemented by registrars. He also encouraged ICANN to reconsider its approval to the WLS, weigh its potential harm and should require a consensus position within the registrar community.

In 2004, Bob supported ICANN's decision to evaluate and regulate Verisign's position as an "exclusive registry." He criticized Verisign's monopolistic business strategy and pledged $100,000 to help ICANN to defend the lawsuit filed by the Verisign.

In 2005, Bob wrote to ICANN CEO and President Paul Twomey regarding the .net registry operation. He explain that moving the operations of the .net registry to another provider is not beneficial for registrars. He stressed that Verisign has proven its capability in maintaining the .net registry in a consistent and stable manner.