Florida Man to ‘Sublet’ Last Name for a Year - East Idaho News
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Florida Man to ‘Sublet’ Last Name for a Year

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ht jason sadler nt 121129 wblog?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1354274692199Laura Evans Photography/Facebook(NEW YORK) — What’s in a name?  Potentially, a lot of money.

That’s what Jason Sadler believes, and it’s the reason he is auctioning off his last name at the aptly named website Buymylastname.com.  The 30-year-old founder of Iwearyourshirt.com is “subletting” his name to the highest bidder for a whole year.

So what gives?  Is Sadler just sick of his last name, or is this all a shameless publicity stunt?

Both, actually — along with a mini identity crisis.

“Throughout my life, I’ve had three separate last names, none of which have carried any real meaning for me or my sense of identity,” Sadler writes on his website.  ”Though I’m incredibly close with the members of my family, I’ve never gotten my sense of self from any family lineage or last name.  Instead, my sense of self has come from the hard work I’ve put in to building my company.”

So when his mother told him earlier this year that she was divorcing his stepfather, Sadler laughed and said, “Now I’ve got to change my last name, too!”

He was joking — sort of.  But then he and his colleagues at I Wear Your Shirt, a marketing firm in Jacksonville, Fla., were brainstorming ways to get more exposure.  And then it hit him.  

”I want to change my name anyway,” he told ABC News.  “Let’s see what the world picks for me.”

On Nov. 1, Sadler launched his website, with bidding set at $0.  To date, 22 companies have placed a bid, with a high of $34,500 by JLabAudio.  

After the auction, which ends Dec. 12 at midnight, Sadler will legally change his name in the state of Florida, and on his Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.  Under the terms and conditions, Sadler is only requiring a 25 percent down payment, with the remaining 75 percent to be paid by Jan. 2, 2013.

“I’m going to buy a domain for whatever my new last name is,” he said.  “That will be my new personal blog for the next year.”  He will also use the new name as his byline for various articles and blog posts.

Sadler said he would invest the profits of his name change into his company, with 10 percent going to the charity Cheerful Givers, which provides birthday gift bags to disadvantaged children.

And when the year is up, who knows?

“I’m not going to change it back to Sadler.  I’ll either pick a random last name or put it up for auction,” he said.  “I really haven’t thought about it yet.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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