If you want to own Internet

Can you survive now without Internet? I cannot and I guess not many people can these days! Internet has penetrated into almost each angel of our life, it will become a nightmare if Internet is not available anymore, even temporary like a power outage. As Jack Ma once said, people now live, eat and sleep on Internet! So true!!

So have you ever thought about own Internet? You must think I’m out of mind of even asking about this. Indeed I’m kind of kidding but I’m also serious in that there is a way you may virtually “own” Internet. Here is how.

If you have never heard about Verisign Inc (VRSN), you should know it. Briefly, VeriSign is a provider of domain name registry services and Internet security, enabling Internet navigation for domain names and providing protection for Websites and enterprises around the world (Registry Services). In other words, if anyone wants to have a website, they must first register to get a domain name. Otherwise you simply cannot create your website. Verisign basically controls the Internet registry services and a legal monopoly. As such, it virtually owns the Internet. Due to its unique dominating power for the Internet, it essentially can make money while sleeping without much competition. Therefore you can imagine how profitable it is as it takes in about 70-80% of each registration fee without doing much work. No wonder its profit margin is close to 40%.  And do you know who is its largest shareholder? Warren Buffett! Yes, Berkshire Hathaway owns about 12% of its shares.

So if you buy VRSN, you kind of own some Internet and will likely earn money in years to come as long as Internet is part of our life. Be aware though, I’m not saying you should back up your truck to buy aggressively as it is not really so cheap at the moment around $83. But at least you should keep this in mind and if ever there is a good selloff to bring down its price, get on board!