Register.com

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American domain name registrar

title: "Register.com" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2000-initial-public-offerings", "2010-mergers-and-acquisitions", "domain-name-registrars", "dot-com-bubble", "internet-properties-established-in-1994", "organizations-based-in-jacksonville,-florida", "web.com", "web-hosting"] description: "American domain name registrar" topic_path: "general/2000-initial-public-offerings" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Register.com" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American domain name registrar ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox website"]

Field	Value
name	Register.com
logo	[[Image:Register logo tagline.png
type	Subsidiary of Web.com
founded
location	Jacksonville, FL, US
key_people	Larry Kutscher, CEO and President
industry	Domain name registrar
products	Web services
parent	Web.com
homepage
::

Register.com is an American domain name registrar founded in 1994.

History

The company was founded in 1994 as Forman Interactive Corp by brothers Peter and Richard Forman and their brother-in-law, Dan B. Levine as a provider of website creation software. In 1999, the company officially changed its name to Register.com.

On April 21, 1999, ICANN announced Register.com was one of the first five testbed registrars for the competitive Shared Registry System. On June 7, the company began operations under this name as a paid registrar in the .com, .net, and .org domains and soon became the first of the five testbed registrars to come online. It was initially selling 3,000 to 4,000 domain names per day.

In March 2000, at the peak of the dot-com bubble, the company became a public company via an initial public offering. The stock price peaked at $116 per share; 1 year later the stock traded at $5 per share.

In September 2000, the company acquired Afternic.com for $48.6 million in cash and stock.

In 2003, Richard D. Forman resigned from his positions as president and chief executive officer.

In November 2005, Register.com was acquired by Vector Capital for $200 million.

In 2005, it became the first online services company to receive the J.D. Power Call Center Certification. Register.com received this recognition again in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Vector Capital brought in David Moore, a principal at the private equity firm Sonostar, as an interim CEO.

In November 2006, Larry Kutscher joined Register.com as chief executive officer. Kutscher came to Register.com from Dun & Bradstreet where he served as Senior Vice President and general manager of the Small Business Group.

In June 2010, Web.com acquired the company for $135 million. In June 2018, Web.com was acquired by Siris Capital Group. In February 2021, Siris and Clearlake Capital Group merged Web.com with Clearlake's Endurance International Group to form a new company, Newfold Digital. As a result of this merger, Register.com became one of the brands under the Newfold Digital portfolio.

In June 2025, Register.com announced that it would merge with Network Solutions. As part of the integration, the Register.com brand is being consolidated into Network Solutions, with customer accounts scheduled to be migrated to the Network Solutions platform.

Controversies And Consumer Issues

On April 1, 2009, Register.com suffered a major DDoS attack, downing thousands of websites. Customers were not able to access the website or receive email for 3 days.

In January 2010, the Chinese search engine Baidu sued Register.com for gross negligence after an employee allegedly allowed third party access to Baidu's account despite them failing to pass basic security verification, allowing for a Domain hijacking of the Baidu website by the Iranian Cyber Army.

References

Angwin, Julia. (July 16, 2001). "The Money Maker". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
Weber, Thomas E.. (April 1, 1999). "Register.Com Aims to Market Internet Addresses to Everyone". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
(March 3, 2000). "Register.com, UTStarcom Rise in Busy Day for IPOs". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
(September 15, 2000). "Register.com to Buy Afternic.com For $48.6 Million in Cash and Stock". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
(June 24, 2003). "Register.com CEO Resigns". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
(November 7, 2005). "Vector Capital Completes $200 Million Take-Private Buyout of Register.com; Private Equity Firm to Help Register.com Expand Online Services Offered to Small Businesses". [[Business Wire]].
(June 21, 2005). "Register.com First in Online Services Industry to Receive J.D. Power and Associates Call Center Certification". [[Business Wire]].
Savitz, Eric J.. (August 15, 2005). "Bidding for Register.com". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
Fung, Amanda. (November 1, 2006). "Register.com names chief executive". [[Crain Communications]].
(June 17, 2010). "Web.com Announces Agreement to Acquire Register.com". [[Web.com]].
"Web.com Announces Agreement to be Acquired by an Affiliate of Siris Capital Group, LLC for $25.00 per share in All Cash Deal Valued at Approximately $2 Billion".
(2025-05-09). "Register.com Review: Pros & Cons + Expert Opinion".
"CLEARLAKE COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ENDURANCE INTERNATIONAL GROUP AND STRATEGIC INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS WITH WEB.COM AND AFFILIATES OF SIRIS; ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF NEWFOLD DIGITAL – Clearlake Capital".
"Brands".
"Register.com is Becoming Network Solutions".
(2025-06-24). "Register.com is Becoming Network Solutions: A Strategic Move by Newfold Digital".
(April 7, 2009). "Web Sites Disrupted By Attack on Register.com". [[The Washington Post]].
CALORE, MICHAEL. (April 3, 2009). "Register.com Victimized by DDoS Attack".
Back, Aaron. (January 19, 2010). "Baidu Sues Register.com, Alleges Negligence in Hacking Attack". [[The Wall Street Journal]].

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