Shortly after Gawker Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday, the media company announced that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with Ziff Davis, a global digital media company that is a subsidiary of j2 Global, Inc. According to the company’s bankruptcy documents filed in the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court, its assets are between $50 and $100 million. The digital media company also asked the court to shield founder and chief executive officer Nick Denton from the Hogan suit and other litigation.
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Gawker Media, under pressure from a $140 million legal judgment and facing a determined foe in the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is putting itself up for sale.
Gawker’s filing in federal bankruptcy court in NY lists assets between $50m (£35m) to $100m (£70m), and liabilities between $100m (£70m) and $500m (£350m).
Image: Gawker founder Nick Denton. Denton called it a vendetta since Gawker outed Thiel as gay ten years ago. The company still plans to appeal the case.
NBC 4 NY has reached out to Gawker Media seeking comment. The jury then added another $25 million in punitive damages.
Mr. Denton has 45 million shares, representing about a 30% stake in the company, said Michael Berry, an attorney for Gawker.
“The bankruptcy process will involve an auction of the company, including its seven main media brands”, Gawker stated.
The pro wrestler and reality TV star took Gawker to court after it published a sex tape featuring him. Ziff Davis has not decided on what it would do with Gawker.com if it buys the company, the person said.
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and a Facebook board member, has always been upset with the site’s coverage of him, particularly a 2007 story by a now-defunct Gawker-owned site that disclosed he is gay.
“The protection afforded by the bankruptcy filing will allow GMG to exercise its rights to due process”, the press release goes on. Thiel, who has a tumultuous history with the media corporation, said that Hogan’s lawsuit was just one of the few that he was funding.
“There’s a tremendous fit between the two organizations, from brands to audience to monetization”.
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In March, Gawker lost its legal battle against Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, after the site published a sex tape in 2012 that the wrestler claimed was recorded secretly.
