LOS ANGELES — After watching for years as others rode the information superhighway to riches, Marcelo Siero will need some time to get used to the fact that his turn finally has come.
The 50-year-old technology entrepreneur became a millionaire three times over on Friday with the sale of Loans.com, a domain name he registered for free in 1994.
He plans to use the money, along with venture capital he hopes to attract, to create a business incubator that could turn his ideas for new Internet businesses into reality.
"This is like my first major financial success," Siero said during a telephone interview. "You look at all the great intellectual ideas you develop over the years, and here you make money on a few letters. It's kind of ironic."
The $3 million cash sale was the third-highest price paid for an Internet domain name, following $7.5 million paid for Business.com and $3.3 million for www.Altavista.com.
The buyer, who was not identified, was among more than a half-dozen companies that bid on the name through GreatDomains.com, an Internet auction site based in Universal City, Calif.
"It's going to be no surprise to anyone who ended up buying it," said Jeff Tinsley, GreatDomains.com's chief executive officer.
Competition for easily recognized domain names is becoming intense as companies seek to position themselves on the Internet. Business.com was purchased by eCompanies, the Santa Monica, Calif., business incubator founded by former Disney online chief Jake Winebaum and Earthlink founder Sky Dayton.
Autos.com sold for $2.2 million in December. WallStreet.com sold for $1 million in April.
"If you can get a very good, one-word domain name that clearly marks your territory, you're going to spend much less money in the long run on branding," Tinsley said.
"People were randomly going to Loans.com every day because they were looking for a loan. Day one that the site goes active, there are going to be clients there," he said.
Another auction site, SiteJockey.com, on Monday was asking a minimum bid of $1 million for the name www.Wireless.com. Bidding was scheduled to close Monday, but the winning bid would not be revealed until later, said SiteJockey chief executive Alex Sepehri-Nik.
High prices being paid for domain names have led to high jinks. A $10 million offer for Year2000.com got a lot of attention, but the bid turned out to be a fake.
The price paid for Loans.com reflects the growth of the online lending market. Jupiter Communications estimates that the value of mortgage loans generated over the Internet will grow from $4 billion in 1998 to $155 billion by 2003.
Siero, a computer and software designer, registered the name Loans.com in 1994 with the modest notion of starting an e-mail forwarding service for small businesses. He also registered Houses.com, Lawoffices.com, Romance.com and Artists.com, all of which he still owns.
At the time, Siero was running a small, struggling Internet service provider in the San Francisco Bay area and thought specialized e-mail services would help attract small businesses to his company.
Now he plans to use the names for businesses he hopes to create through his incubator.
The Loans.com windfall may help those dreams come true, he said. Otherwise Siero, who lives in Ban Lomond, near San Jose, doesn't expect his new wealth to affect his lifestyle drastically, he said. The only purchase he had in mind on Monday was a new auto to replace his 1983 Nissan pickup.
He also hopes to have a little more time to devote to acting, a hobby he pursues with a community theater. He has created a one-man show based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh but hasn't been able to persuade a director to stage it.
For now at least, theater will remain a hobby. But one dream has come true for Siero. Why not another?
"If some director recognizes my talent and wants to put me in a major motion picture . . . ," he said before pausing. "That's pretty farfetched. One can always hope."