A Google employee purchased the company domain for just $12 when it was accidentally listed online.
The 'google.com' domain, worth potentially billions or even trillions, was bought by Sanmay Ved on 29 September 2015.
Sanmay, originally from Mandvi in Gujarat, India, used to work in ad sales for Google when he discovered that google.com was unexpectedly available for purchase.
Purely out of curiosity, he proceeded with the transaction and was able to acquire the domain.
Advert
He then started to receive confirmation emails and access to Google's webmaster tools... for a matter of seconds. Google quickly cancelled the transaction and reclaimed the domain.
Deciding to recognise Sanmay's discovery, however, the company offered a him a $6,006.13 reward, a figure that numerically resembles the word 'Google'.
Instead of splurging the money on himself, Sanmay told the company that he wanted to donate the sum to the Art of Living India Foundation, an organisation that operates free schools across India.
In response to his generosity, Google doubled the donation amount to $12,000.
Advert
"I don't care about the money, " Ved told Business Insider.
"It was never about the money. I also want to set an example that it's people who want to find bugs that it's not always about the money."
Sanmay worked at Google from 2007 to 2012, before rejoining as an agency development manager in 2016.
He now works to 'lead the management, operations, training, coaching and support of a team of account strategists'.
Advert
Over on LinkedIn, he recalled Google Security contacting him 'in a very Googley way'.
"I wrote back and told them it was never about money, and asked that the money be donated to charity to the Art of Living India Foundation," he explained.
"They have replied and have stated that they understand and respect the fact that this was not about getting a reward.
"Despite that, given what they found, and how this was handled, they are "excited" to offer me a reward."
Advert
In the 2015 post, Sanmay said that the Art of Living's education program runs 404 free schools across 18 states of India, providing free education to more than 39,200 children 'in the slum, tribal and rural belts where child labor and poverty are widespread'.
Acknowledging the Google employee in a blog post, the company said: "You may have read about Sanmay Ved, a researcher from who was able to buy google.com for one minute on Google Domains. Our initial financial reward to Sanmay—$ 6,006.13—spelled-out Google, numerically (squint a little and you’ll see it!).
"We then doubled this amount when Sanmay donated his reward to charity."
Anish Vij