In this article we’ll cover the most expensive blogs ever sold and see what they have in common that’s made them successful.
I hope that this article inspires you to grow your own blog and reach success like these incredibly successful bloggers did!
Also Read: Top 20 highest earning bloggers (crazy successful blog income reports) // affiliate marketing 2022
1. Politicshome.com, Sold for $1.3 Million
There will always be plenty of discussions around politics in the online world, especially in trying times like we’ve lived through for the past couple of years.
One of the first bloggers to snake good money selling off a successful political blog was Stephan Shakespeare, who started the Politicshome blog in 2008.
Stephan was no stranger to online political discourse, as he was the founder and CEO of YouGov, which operated as an internet marketing company.
Michael Ashcroft saw the potential of the company, and the Conservative politician decided to buy it from Stephan for $1.3 million in 2009. The site pulls in $3,561 every day.
2. GardenRant, Sold for $1.3 Million
Another blogger that managed to cash in on their passion was Susan Harris, who started GardenRant in 1996, offering her readers useful tips and advice on gardening and how to take care of the plant life in and around their homes.
Gardeners responded to her in droves, growing her site to formidable levels.
Her success was noticed by GardenWeb, who would eventually buy the site for $1.3 million in 2007. The site sees daily revenue of $395.73.
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3. Arseblog, Sold for $5 Million
Sports fans are also represented on the list of blogging millionaires. The most popular sport in the world, soccer, is the one responsible for our example here. Andrew Managan was a die-hard fan of Arsenal, an English football club.
The team was the league leader in the English Premier League at the time, which is a big deal in case you’re unaware, and this is what made Andrew decide to create a site dedicated to all things Arsenal in 2006, naming it Arseblog.
The team was at the height of its popularity, which prompted Ole Ole to purchase the site from Andrew for $5 million in 2007 and rename it Ole Ole, which is not bad at all for a year’s worth of work.
The site brings in traffic revenue to the tune of $13,698 each day.
4. PaidContent.org, Sold for $6.5 Million
Rafat Ali was a journalist that decided to play to his strength and use his skills to start a blog site that provided news, analysis, and general information to the public.
This led to the birth of PaidContent in 2002. Its success leading to interest from The Guardian Media Group, which would come to buy the blog for a substantial $6.5 million in 2008.
The site pulls in approximately $13,698 every day, and Rafat Ali continues to play a key role in it as the site’s editor.
5. Freakonomics, Sold for $8 Million
The internet seems to have an endless appetite for the strange, weird, and intriguing aspects of life, and Stephen J. Dubner tapped into that perfectly with his book titled Freakonomics. It highlighted various instances of our seemingly zany reality that captured the world’s imagination and saw massive success.
This success prompted him to start up the Freakonomics blog, which brought the former New York Times journalist more success.
The New York Times sought to get in on the action, eventually purchasing it from Stephen for $8 million.
The site manages to bring in $10,958 each day.
6. Celebrity Baby Blog, Sold for $10 Million
One of the more unique entries on this list is the Celebrity Baby Blog (celebrity-babies.com, which is basically a blog dedicated to tracking the lives of the children of rich and famous personalities.
The site became a surprise hit online, garnering thousands of new visitors every day since it started up in 2004. Its founder, Danielle Friedland, saw fit to sell the site off to Times Incorporated for $10 million in 2008.
You can find the blog under the name babyrazzi.com today, and it manages to earn its owners a daily revenue of $6,849.
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7. TreeHugger, Sold for $10 Million
The environment hasn’t been left behind when it comes to minting online blogging millionaires.
In 2005, Graham Hill created Tree Hugger, a site that served the environmentalist community with news, information, contacts, advice, and learning materials for those interested in helping conserve the environment.
The environmentalist and technological whiz developed the site for two years before agreeing to sell it to Discovery Communication for a hefty $10 million in 2007.
The site continues to bring in daily revenue of $6,849.
8. Wonkette, Sold for $12 Million
Another pioneer in the world of celebrity gossip is Wonkette, whose founding editor was Ana Marie Cox, who was then working for the Gawker Media Network.
We may never know if she would have sold it on her own initiative, but Gawker apparently foresaw a downturn in the internet market and decided to sell it off to the then editor Ken Layne and his investment partners in 2006 for $12 million.
It’s estimated that Wonkette brings in about $16,000 every day in revenue.
9. Deadline Hollywood, Sold for $14 Million
So, we all know today that you can’t go wrong with celebrity gossip if you’re looking for views. Nikki Finke figured this out before most of us did, and this sparked the creation of Deadline Hollywood as a column in the LA weekly publication.
The column, which featured trends, news, and gossip from Hollywood, eventually transitioned to an online blog in 2006, which is where it found true success.
After changing its name to Deadline Hollywood Daily, the site caught the eye of the Mail Media Corporation which paid Nikki $14 million for it.
The site now goes by deadline.com and brings in $5,479 each day in revenue.
10. Bankaholic.com, Sold for $15 Million
The financial sector also has a place on this list, which shouldn’t surprise anyone since everyone is interested in securing their finances nowadays.
John Wu has a solid background in finance and banking as the founder of CB Land Investments, and he decided to start Bankaholic.com in 2006 as a resource for readers looking for financial advice.
The site is estimated to rake in about $20,547 every day. It also served as a general online banking marketplace that was finally sold to Bankrate, a consortium of real-world banking professionals, for $15 million in 2008.
11. ArsTechnica, Sold for $15 Million
Now, when it comes to blogging within the tech industry, you can’t escape mentioning Ars Technica.
Ken Fisher established it in 1998, and it quickly became an authoritative voice in the tech industry, providing news, reviews, and analyses on all matters tech-related.
In 2008, Conde Nast Publications bought the site, which draws in about $7,000 in daily revenues, for $25 million.
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12. LiveJournal, Sold for $15 Million
Everyone likes to feel special, and the internet gave us the opportunity to share our wisdom with the rest of the world.
LiveJournal was one of the first sites that allowed users to create their own independent blogs or online journals. It was founded in 1999 and pioneered the use of open-source server technology. Users had the freedom to create blogs, diaries, calendars, polls, and more.
With daily revenue of $8,561, it prompted Six Apart to snap it up for $25 million back in 2007.
13. Tatter and Company, Sold for $30 Million
Not all blogging success stories were founded in the United States. Tatter and Company, also referred to as TNC, was a Korean blogging platform established in 2002 and proceeded to grow to massive proportions.
Its co-founders Chang-won Kim and Chester Roh sold it to Google in 2008 for $30 million. It’s estimated to rake in $13,698 every day.
14. TechCrunch, Sold for $30 Million
Another tech-related success story was that of TechCrunch. Michael Arrington started up the blog in 2005, hoping to provide readers with all the tech-related news they could wish for, and this proved to be a winning formula as the site grew incredibly quickly.
Within three years, it was large enough to attract the attention of AOL Time Warner, who snapped the site up for $30 million. It brings in daily revenue to the tune of $16,438 every day.
15. ConsumerSearch, Sold for $33 Million
The tech bubble years saw plenty of success stories in the online arena, and ConsumerSearch, co-founded by Carl Harman and Derek Grew in 1999, was one of the biggest ones.
The blog site, designed to help consumers find all the information on deals, updates, offers, and related news on the products on their shelves, was bought up by About.com in 2007 for an impressive 33 million dollar payday.
It’s estimated that they receive $11,301 each day in revenue.
16. Fotolog.net, Sold for $90 Million
In 2002, Scott Heiferman started up another blog that would grow to become a behemoth in its niche. Fotolog is a site that catered to the photography community.
It grew so rapidly after its inception that it would overwhelm its servers due to the amount of traffic it would receive. In 2007, the Hi-Media group decided to purchase it for 90 million dollars.
With over 20 million unique visitors each month and estimated revenue of about 50 thousand dollars each month, it seems to be worth every penny.
17. Ugo.com, Sold for $100 Million
Chris Sherman started up unified Gamers Online (Ugo.com) in 1997 as a blog that catered to the gaming community, providing news, new releases, reviews, deals, and all things related to gaming.
Action World Incorporated bought it from Sherman and renamed it UGO Networks as it grew in viewership. This name didn’t appeal to the legion of fans the blog had garnered, and so its name was changed once again to Online Underground.
In 2007, The Hearst Corporation became the latest owners, buying it for the whopping price of a hundred million dollars. Estimates place its daily revenues at twenty-seven thousand dollars, making it one of the most profitable blogs out there.
It shows no signs of slowing down as the worldwide gaming community continues to grow each year.
15 Most Expensive Blogs Ever Sold!! (Sold for Millions)