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World’s first vanity gTLD goes live
Kevin Murphy, May 12, 2016, Domain Registries
Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li has become the first person to own a top-level domain matching his name.
The new gTLD .richardli went live on the internet today. 
The registry is Pacific Century Asset Management (HK) Limited, a subsidiary of PCCW, the Hong Kong telecomms and internet giant of which Li is chair.
Forbes estimated Li’s personal wealth in 2015 at $4.7 billion, making him the 360th richest guy in the world.
The gTLD is a pure brand-protection play, according to the 2012 application, which states:
An important goal of the TLD is the safeguard of the intellectual property right of our Chairman’s name Richard Li.
…
The establishment of the .richardli TLD on the Internet safeguards our brand’s intellectual property right (in this case, our Chairman’s name Richard Li). PCCW has invested substantially in the online areas and will continue to do so.
There are no domains currently resolving in .richardli, though we should expect nic.richardli to start resolving in the coming days.
I believe .richardli was the only applied-for new gTLD that exactly matches a specific individual’s personal name.
A handful of gTLDs representing PCCW’s brands in Latin and Chinese scripts also went live today.
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