I don't really see how this is related to stocks. First, he got these all for free, while you have to buy stocks. There's a risk that they might be worthless down the line and you lose all the money you spent
Second, when you invest you are offering financial value. He just contacted someone, said "hey can I have these domains please?" and did nothing with them for 25+ years, until he was finally able to demand a payout. again.
are all the people who tried to sell their hoarded toilet paper people who "identified something of value early on before anyone else did"?
It's disingenuous to say the domains were free. There was no purchase price prior to the mid 90s, but from then on, there were annual fees starting at $50 and later dropping to $35. They didn't drop below that for a while, and bottomed out around $10-15. Sitting on a domain for 25 years cost nearly $1000. That's great if you can sell the domain later for 5-6 figures, but if you have a large squatting portfolio, there are substantial costs. You
might not like domain squatting, but there's no denying that it was an investment, and there were risks. This guy just saw the market early and it paid off.
Second, when you invest you are offering financial value. He just contacted someone, said "hey can I have these domains please?" and did nothing with them for 25+ years, until he was finally able to demand a payout. again.
are all the people who tried to sell their hoarded toilet paper people who "identified something of value early on before anyone else did"?