NYC cyber squatter hopes to cash in big on Harris-Walz website he bought in 2020
It’s the veepstakes sweepstakes.
A Brooklyn cyber squatter who purchased a website named HarrisWalz.com in 2020 could fetch $15,000 for the domain if Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Jeremy Green Eche, a trademark lawyer, bought the URL for just $8.99 in hopes of Harris and Walz one day forming a Democratic presidential ticket.
Four years later, the 36-year-old Big Apple attorney’s cheap investment could potentially yield major dividends as Walz is one the two finalists being considered as Harris’ vice president pick, sources have told Reuters.
Harris, who was formally nominated the Democratic nominee for president on Monday, is set to choose her VP choice on Tuesday.
Eche is willing to sell the HarrisWalz.com website name to the Harris campaign for the same price he sold the ClintonKaine.com website in 2016 — $15,000.
“I know I could just donate it, but that is not really how this works,” Eche, who supports Harris, told the Associated Press.
“People with billboards aren’t donating their billboards to the campaign. It is just a property basically.”
Four years ago when then-California Sen. Harris first ran for president, Eche started purchasing domains that included her name.
“I just tried to grab her name and all the heartland governors I could think of,” he said.
Walz, who has served as Minnesota’s governor since 2019, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro are the two remaining candidates being considered as Harris’ running mate, according to the Reuters report.
Harris and whoever she selects will face former President Donald Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance this November.
Eche has experience buying domains that later lead to hefty paydays.
He bought ClintonKaine.com in 2011 and offered to sell it to Clinton’s camp in 2016 after former secretary of state Hillary Clinton picked Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate. But her reps turned him down.
Instead he sold it to a digital marketing company that ended up being the Trump campaign for $15,000. The website disseminated anti-Clinton news with the bottom of the website stating “Paid for by Donald J. Trump for President. Inc.”
Eche is known as a cyber squatter because he buys a domain with someone else’s name or brand for a few bucks with the goal of selling it back for a much larger amount months or years later.
Here’s the latest on Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign:
While Eche plans on voting for Harris and wants Walz on the ticket with her, he wouldn’t think twice about selling the website to someone else if the Harris campaign refuses to play ball.
“The Harris campaign has hundreds of millions of dollars, so if they don’t buy their own domain, that is kind of on them,” he said. “I’ve got to sell it to somebody.”
Other website names Eche bought years ago include Harris’ name with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and other high-profile Democrats. The list of domains would all be sold together.
“Not only are these domains valuable for the 2024 election, but they will also retain their value in 2028 if Harris runs in that year,” the website where he is trying to sell the domain states. “This makes them an excellent investment.”
And with an eye already on 2028, he has purchased ten websites that include Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s name and other Democrats.
With Post wires
