How one man made big bucks selling a domain for the Harris-Walz ticket

Four years ago, Jeremy Green Eche had a hunch and decided to buy the domain HarrisWalz.com.

Green Eche said that in August 2020, once Kamala Harris was chosen as Joe Biden's running mate, he figured she would run for president in the future.

"So, I just thought of all of the heartland governors and senators that I could think of, and grabbed every domain I could," he said.

RELATED STORY | The risk of cyberattacks on hospitals is growing, experts say

Well that domain — HarrisWalz.com — which sold for $8.99 in 2020, Green Eche told Scripps News, just sold for $15,000 in the days after it was announced that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would be running alongside Harris.

"I sold it on the afternoon of the day of the announcement," he said. "So it is now in transit to the random guy who bought it from me."

It was a pretty good return on the investment, to put it lightly.

Green Eche said another contender for the VP pick who was highly speculated to have a chance to win: Josh Shaprio — wasn't on his radar when he was buying domain names. He says that's because, at that time, Shapiro was "only attorney general of Pennsylvania."

RELATED STORY | Who is Tim Walz? Get to know Kamala Harris' pick for vice president

He said someone else bought the domain related to Harris and Shapiro in 2020, so he went with another choice. His second choice — HarrisPritzker.com — was because of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

The last time Green Eche gained national recognition for hitting it big with a domain squatting investment came in 2016 he sold the domain ClintonKaine.com after Hillary Clinton selected Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine to be her running mate when she ran for the presidency.

Green Eche said that in college he made money selling autographs — including that of Barack Obama — and it was around that time he figured out he could make money off buying and selling domain names. He said this time, with Harris-Walz, he listed the domain on his own website and sold it that way.