Watch CBS News

The Owners Of Ebola.com Score Six Figure Payday

By Melony Roy

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The owners of Ebola.com have sold the domain to the "highest" bidder.

Six years ago Chris Hood and his business partner purchased Ebola.com, but the recent outbreak has turned the sale into a six figure payday.

"Our business model is buying and selling any URL that has potential for resale value in the future"

The Las Vegas entrepreneurs own about 5,000 domain names, including Birdflu.com and H1N1.com.

"It's certainly never been a focus of the business, but its the kind of thing that whenever we read something that's interesting or timely in the news we'll do a little bit a research and see if there is a potential tie in to a domain name investment"

He says the Ebola.com sale got the most attention, but wasn't the most profitable.

"We knew it was probably going to be somebody that was involved in the Ebola fight in some capacity or other. The company we sold to is Weed Growth Fund."

Weed Growth Fund is owned by Cannabis Sativa, which promotes medical uses for marijuana.

Hood and his partner purchased Ebola.com for $13,500 and sold the domain for over $200,000 in cash and stock.

You may also be interested in these stories:

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.