This Babson MBA student made $12,000 by owning Google.com for a hot minute
And his charity of choice benefited from the tech company’s mistake.
After a Babson College MBA student briefly owned Google.com — yes, that Google.com — he was rewarded by the mammoth tech company to the tune of $12,000.
When Sanmay Ved was looking around Google Domains last fall, he noticed that the domain for Google.com was listed as available and purchased it for $12, The Boston Globe reported. A confirmation email appeared in his inbox, quickly followed by an email saying his order had been canceled.
Google did not respond to the Globe’s request for commentat the time but recently posted on their Online Security Blog that Ved was initially rewarded financially with $6,006.13 — which “spelled out Google, numerically’’ if you “squint a little.’’ Google then doubled that amount, according to the blog post, after Ved announced he would donate his reward to charity.
Ved told Business Insider that he was never motivated by the idea of a monetary reward — Google routinely gives money to those who point out missteps in their system as part of their “Vulnerability Reward Program’’ — he just wanted to point out the bug.
Ved donated the total amount to The Art of Living India — a non-governmental education and humanitarian organization — according to Business Insider, because, Ved told the publication, he’s “kind of a proponent for education.’’
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