Directory >> Financial Groups involved in Domain Names
There is a progressive takeover of the Internet by financial interests, gradually replacing the free and open Web with a proprietary Internet.
A small group of investment funds controls significant ownership in all major tech companies, meaning these giants are not truly independent competitors. The "Big Three" — BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — are the world’s largest asset managers. They collectively hold major stakes in leading tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta, giving them significant influence over the global technology sector. Together, they are estimated to control between 15% and 20% of the shares in each of these companies.
As in many other sectors, these powerful investment funds — along with major financial companies such as Berkshire Hathaway — have secured dominant stakes in critical parts of the domain name industry, particularly private registries and registrars.
Thus, little by little, the internet sector is transitioning from an open universe to a fragmented space controlled by internet giants and States . But the fragmentation of the internet goes beyond that, with also technical threats for the existing ICANN model.
As in many other sectors, investment funds have rapidly taken control of the major companies in the domain name sector, especially private registries and registrars. The investment fund model, set up by managers rather than sector experts, consists of achieving economies of scale through acquisitions, mergers and concentrations. To the same end, human processes are replaced by automated systems such as IA assistants, chatbots and voice responders, while pricing policies are optimised to generate short-term revenue.
The negative consequences in terms of customer dissatisfaction are offset by communication and storytelling initiatives, the effects of which are more rapid than the market's awareness of the decline in service quality. As the investment funds are just passing through a company, this well-oiled model generally succeeds in achieving its objective, which is to sell the companies on to other funds or other larger players. This gradual mechanism of market concentration works well for the Internet sector, as the intangible nature of the business reduces the logistical and managerial difficulties associated with business growth.