Musk Tells How it Took $10 million to get Tesla.com
In this Tesla Podcast (at around 2 hours and 13 minutes in), Elon Musk tells the story of how he paid $35,000 to purchase the Tesla Motors trademark, and $10 million to get the tesla.com domain. He nearly had to change the name of his company as the seller took ten years to agree to sell.
Elon Musk is a brilliant promoter and marketer. He knows the value of a com domain. Do not try to start a business without your perfect domain to use in your email and a web page.