CNBC is reporting that Bob Parsons, founder and CEO of GoDaddy, has sold his stake to a group of private investors led by KKR. 

GoDaddy had filed for an IPO in 2006 but later withdrew the attempt.  Parsons, a flamboyant character best known for his irreverant blog, his earring and his partnership with NASCAR driver Danica Patrick, at the time said he was pulling out of the IPO because of poor market conditions. 

Parsons, an accountant by training, resented the impact of GAAP accounting on the company's recurring revenue model, which would have forced the recognition of deferred revenue, tending to undercut the firm's valuation.

GoDaddy's aborted IPO also followed shortly after my old company - Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW) - filed a patent infringement lawsuit against GoDaddy.  That lawsuit was settled many years later, but at the time there were some who thought that the threat of litigation also put pressure on GoDaddy to withdraw the IPO.