Gawker reported its assets are estimated to be between $50 million to $100 million and its liabilities between $100 million to $500 million, according to Reuters.
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Hogan’s lawsuit accused Gawker, Mr Denton and former Gawker editor AJ Daulerio of violating his privacy by publishing a one minute, 41-second edited video clip featuring Hogan having sex with the wife of his then-best friend, the radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.
A jury awarded Hogan $25 million in punitive damages, bringing his total judgment to $140 million.
On Friday, it was revealed that Gawker Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following their devastating loss against Hulk Hogan in his invasion-of-privacy lawsuit.
The company released a statement saying it had agreed to sell its seven media brands and other assets to Ziff Davis, which owns the video game site IGN and PC Magazine. Thiel, the libertarian-leaning venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal (PYPL) and sits on the board of Facebook (FB), made a financial contribution to the suit. Ziff Davis is focused on the Gawker brands in the tech, gaming and lifestyle categories, which contribute the vast majority of Gawker Media’s revenue, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bollea (Hogan) was listed as Gawker’s biggest creditor in its bankruptcy filing.
For years, Gawker’s sites have pilloried Thiel, ridiculing his business failures and stridently conservative views.
This idea comes with several “ifs” – it is dependent on Denton prevailing in the appeal of Hulk Hogan’s ongoing lawsuit against Gawker.
Mr Denton told the BBC Mr Thiel should accept that his position means he should face public scrutiny. “But it is also now formally entertaining offers to buy the company and says it has a firm bid from publisher Ziff Davis to buy the entire operation for less than $100 million”.
A spokesman for Peter Thiel declined to comment on Gawker’s bankruptcy filing.
Gawker announced on its website that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday and put its assets up for sale. In 2007, Valleywag, a Gawker blog, posted a story about Thiel – “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people”. If Gawker prevails, Denton could recoup some of his losses.
“Gawker, the defendant, built its business on humiliating people for sport”, Thiel said in a statement last month.
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There’s one title he didn’t mention: the original one, the target of Hogan’s ire, Gawker.com.
