Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, won a $140 million verdict against Gawker in March.
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An anonymous source has said that PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel is the secret backer behind Hulk Hogan in his case against Gawker. As of press time, Hogan has filed a total of three lawsuits against the New York-based publisher.
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.
A 2007 article published by Gawker, “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people”, and a series of articles about his friends and others that he said “ruined people’s lives for no reason” drove Mr. Thiel to mount a clandestine war against Gawker, funding a team of lawyers to find and help “victims” of the company’s coverage to mount cases against Gawker.
On Wednesday, Hogan and Gawker were back in a Florida court, where Judge Pamela Campbell denied Gawker’s request for a new trial and refused to reduce the damages.
The rumor of a possible benefactor is familiar to anyone who has covered Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker.
The latest suit also accuses a talent agent, two disc jockeys, a radio company and a lawyer of conspiring to send news media outlets the sex tape and causing Hogan emotional distress and economic harm.
Thiel never hid his disdain for the site, saying in 2009 that “Valleywag is the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda”.
Ayyadurai told CNNMoney that Thiel has “zero involvement in my case”. I will offer my personal opinion in greater detail after I run it by Peter Thiel – I’m not scared or taking a cue from Wired, I just don’t want to wait ten years to find out I’m on a target list. I mean, yeah he probably doesn’t care for them very much at this point. “As we’ve said all along, we expect the appeals court will rule in our favor”. “The way I’ve thought about this is that Gawker has been a singularly bad bully”.
Thiel is one of Silicon Valley’s more outspoken, and unique, figures.
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“I think media organizations are going to be thinking twice before publishing anything sexual or sensational about a celebrity”, said Samantha Barbas, an associate professor at the SUNY Buffalo Law School who focuses on First Amendment and privacy law.
