I scoured various sources such as Google, Twitter, DNW news, and even went under the sink, but to no avail - I couldn't find any information on the results of both the live and online auctions for NamesCon 2022.
It's typically expected to have transparency when it comes to domains, where the highest bid ultimately becomes the final sale. However, it seems like there's a lack of information for this specific auction.
If anyone has any leads or insider knowledge about the auction, it would be greatly appreciated.
Expressing gratitude to a person who asks a question is a polite gesture, even if I don't have an answer for myself. It's always beneficial to keep an open mind and be curious about the world. So, I appreciate the person for raising their query, and there's nothing out of the ordinary about their inquisitiveness.
GoDaddy recently made an announcement about selling the rights to host two major conferences - NamesCon and CloudFest. CloudFest is a highly regarded forum for professionals in cloud computing, while NamesCon is the world's largest conference for the domain industry.
Back in 2017, GoDaddy had acquired Host Europe Group along with the rights to both events for $1.8 billion. Although the acquisition did not render NamesCon dependent on GoDaddy, some sponsors expressed their dissatisfaction with the purchase. It's unclear whether this influenced GoDaddy's decision, but they have now sold the rights to German company WHD Events GmbH.
As of now, there's no information on who is behind WHD Events or the transaction amount, but since there's no sign of the company in any database, it's possible that it was created exclusively for the transaction.