Bob Parsons

Robert Parsons, better known as Bob Parsons, is an American entrepreneur. He is the executive chairman and founder of the Go Daddy group of companies, including domain name registrar GoDaddy.com, reseller registrar Wild West Domains and Blue Razor Domains. Other affiliated companies include Domains by Proxy, a domain privacy company, and Starfield Technologies, the business's technology development arm.

Background
Parsons was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His family lived in Baltimore's inner city and struggled financially. Parsons has said about those days, "I've earned everything I've ever received. Very little was given to me. I've been working as long as I can remember. Whether it was delivering or selling newspapers, pumping gas, working in construction or in a factory, I've always been making my own money."

After almost flunking out of high school, Parsons enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was assigned to the 26th Marine Regiment which was attached to and operated as part of the 1st Marine Division. In 1969, he served as a rifleman in the Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, during a tour of duty in Vietnam, in the Quảng Nam Province.

He was wounded on duty, medically evacuated and spent two months at a naval hospital recovering from his wounds. As a result of his service and injury, he earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross and the Purple Heart.

Education
Parsons obtained an accounting degree, graduating magna cum laude in 1975, from the University of Baltimore. He began his long-term career in software as a self-taught programmer.

The University of Baltimore conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on May 21, 2008.

Parsons Technology
In 1984, he founded Parsons Technology in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and began selling MoneyCounts, a home accounting program. In late 1987, Parsons was able to quit his job and focus completely on selling and programming MoneyCounts. Eventually, Parsons Technology grew to be a 1,000-employee privately held company. On September 27, 1994, Parsons completed the sale of Parsons Technology to Intuit for $64 million.

Go Daddy
Parsons founded the Internet domain registrar and Web hosting company, Go Daddy. In 2011, he stepped down as CEO.

Elephant shooting controversy
In 2011 Parsons was denounced by animal rights groups for tweeting a video in which he shoots and kills an elephant in Zimbabwe. In response, Parsons explained, "The tribal authorities requested that I and others like me patrol the fields before and during the harvest." PETA said that it would close its account with Go Daddy and urged others to do the same. Parsons said in response that by shooting leopards and elephants that he has been helping the local population. He has also stated that he believes the opposition to him only exists within small organizations who are not his customers.