The fabulous life of Bob Parsons, the billionaire founder of GoDaddy
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Parsons was a Marine and did a tour of Vietnam in 1969. He earned a Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and a Purple Heart for his service.
After selling his first company to Intuit for $64 million, he founded GoDaddy in 1997, at first calling it Jomax Technologies. In 2011, he sold the majority of GoDaddy to a group of private equity investors and left his position as CEO. In 2014, he left his position as executive chairman, but still sits on GoDaddy's board.
Source: Business Insider
Since leaving his day-to-day role with the company, Parsons has used much of his time and wealth in charity work with the foundation he started with his wife Renee. They've donated nearly $72 million to charity over the last three years. Here he is outside of a school during one of several trips to Haiti.
Source: Forbes
The couple was married in 2009 in an extravagant ceremony at Keswick Hall outside Charlottesville, Virginia. Parsons uploaded a trailer for his wedding video to his YouTube page.
Source: YouTube
Here Parsons poses with Nascar driver Danica Patrick. GoDaddy has sponsored Patrick since 2006, and she's appeared in nearly 30 commercials for the domain registry site, some of them quite racy.
Source: Phoenix Business Journal
Parsons definitely shares Patrick's need for speed. He owns three motorcycle dealerships, in addition to his personal collection of bikes. Here's his BMW K1300S, complete with a Captain America paint job.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/359491413936832512
Paint job on my BMW K1300S. Captain America. Sick, eh? pic.twitter.com/UzCV0QCvpT
He also has a BMW 1200GT that's been painted with a skull pattern.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/346290759353372672
Happy Father's Day Dads! Recent pic of my 09 BMW 1200GT w/Skull Paint job. Sick, eh? pic.twitter.com/BsUMN2gzrv
Here's a photo of his Ducati Diavel.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/204036954256445440
Just put 60 miles on this new Ducati "chromo" Diavel. One helluva bike. pic.twitter.com/ZvI0WKYS
He also has a Ducati Panigale.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/200067224952766465
Put 120 miles more on my Ducati Panigale. As much as a man can love a motorcycle I love this bike! pic.twitter.com/3gCIG2Pa
Parsons plans to build the world's biggest Harley Davidson dealership in Scottsdale. He has a few Harleys of his own.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/247143696049532928
My new 2013 Harley-Davidson Vrod, all tricked out. Sick, eh? pic.twitter.com/csQRnK6z
Here's his Harley Screaming Eagle Road Glide.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/201769198844784641
Just picked up this new Harley Screaming Eagle Road Glide from hd of Scottsdale. Sick eh? pic.twitter.com/NHDNLigY
And here's a Marines-inspired BMW GT1600 that he says he rode to Vegas to watch a Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/331263000226967552
Rode my BMW GT1600 to Vegas Saturday to see the Mayweather Fight. Great bike. Interesting paint job eh? pic.twitter.com/cpZJiLuzra
In 2011, he was awarded the Celebrity Fight Night Muhammad Ali Entrepreneur Award.
Source: Official site
In 2011, Parsons was heavily criticized after videos of him hunting elephants in Africa surfaced on the internet. He defended his actions, saying he was helping locals control the elephant population: "These people are on the brink of starvation," he told CBS. "A lot of people are up in arms about this ... if they'd go on one of my trips to Zimbabwe, they'd understand."
Source: CBS News
Parsons is also a golf enthusiast.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/318213688320471040
Had a Hole in One today and afterwards was happy to buy lots of guys lots of drinks. pic.twitter.com/3K9VvUtwi4
In 2013, he bought a 292-acre golf club for $600,000, renaming it the Scottsdale National Golf Club. In 2014, he unveiled a $35 million plan to redevelop some of the course's holes and build a new clubhouse.
http://instagram.com/p/0ySIWrwbSD/embed/
Width: 800px
In January 2015, he launched Parsons Xtreme Golf, a new company that makes golf clubs with a unique design and patented alloy technology. The clubs are making their debut on the PGA Tour with an endorsement deal with tour champion Ryan Moore.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/553277518879277056
Hello World! Pls meet my newest company. Parsons Xtreme Golf. http://t.co/Y4NsESUwhc pic.twitter.com/mz2YI6LqCh @ParsonsXtreme
Parsons also owns nine shopping centers in the Phoenix area, totalling more than 675,000 square feet of commercial real estate. His investment company paid nearly $37 million for the Scottsdale Grayhawk Center alone.
Source: YAM Properties, Phoenix Business Journal
Parsons doesn't do anything halfway. Rather than just pour one bucket over his head for last summer's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, he had 10 full beer tubs of water poured on him. He donated $100,000 in total.
Now read about another entrepreneur.
Popular Right Now
Advertisement