Lucky Google Employee Buys Domain For $12

[justseyi]

Imagine stumbling upon the world’s most valuable domain—google.com—for just $12. That’s exactly what happened to Sanmay Ved in 2015, and his response? Pure class that turned a glitch into good karma. Here’s the unbelievable story of how one late-night click owned Google for a minute and changed lives.

At 1:20 AM on September 29, 2015, Sanmay Ved, a former Google employee (2007-2012 account strategist), was browsing Google Domains when he spotted something insane: google.com was up for grabs. Not for billions, but a measly $12.

Heart racing, he added it to his cart, punched in his card details, and… boom—the purchase cleared. For about one glorious minute, Ved owned the gateway to billions of monthly visits, even glimpsing internal webmaster tools and Google Sites data.

But instead of chaos—like redirecting traffic or ransoming it—Ved did the right thing: He immediately flagged it to Google’s security team. The ownership flipped back in seconds, but Google was floored by his integrity. Their thank-you?

A cheeky $6,006.13 reward—leetspeak for “Google.” Ved could’ve pocketed it, but nah. He turned it down and asked Google to donate the full amount to The Art of Living Foundation, a charity running 1,262 schools for underprivileged kids in India.

Inspired by his selflessness, Google didn’t just comply—they doubled it to $12,012.26, amplifying the impact for even more children. Ved’s move wasn’t about greed; it was a reminder that true power lies in giving back.

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