The $90 million website paid off until 2040

A closer look

Domain squatting is the most lucrative passive income stream ever accidentally invented. In 2005, the company Vegas.com decided they needed the ultimate geographic URL. They bought LasVegas.com from a savvy early-internet squatter for an eye-watering $90 million. But because nobody has that kind of cash lying around for a URL, they agreed to a massive 35-year installment plan. The original owner gets to sit back and collect millions of dollars every single year until 2040, all because he typed a city name into GoDaddy in the 1990s.