Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech investor and co-founder of Paypal, has admitted to backing Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media.
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This news comes only days after Nick Denton, Gawker’s founder, speculated that Hogan had to have been receiving funds from a third party to finance the lawsuit.
The 62-year-old wrestler won $140 million from the media website in March – $115 million in compensatory damages and $25 million more in punitive damages – after they published a 2006 sex tape of him and his friend Bubba The Love Sponge’s then-wife Heather Clem in 2012.
Forbes, citing “people familiar with the situation who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity”, said Thiel has played a lead role in bankrolling Bollea’s cases against Gawker.
Gawker are appealing the verdict.
Wednesday’s hearing was scheduled to address Gawker’s motion for a new trial, which Campbell denied.
“We look forward to the legal process continuing and expect to be vindicated”, gawker said in a statement.
Mr. Thiel’s motivation for being involved in the case is unclear, but his animus toward Gawker dates to at least 2007, when Gawker’s Valleywag blog revealed that he was gay.
Mr. Thiel is known as a brilliant entrepreneur.
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He is running as a delegate supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the June 7 California primary. While some think Thiel is right to stick it to an outlet that at times seemed to rely on tormenting him to meet its traffic targets, others – including reporters and First Amendment specialists – expressed concern today that Thiel and other wealthy benefactors could effectively silence journalists and other critics by funding lawsuits against them.
