![]() ![]() Thiel has since publicly acknowledged that he’s gay, and called Gawker’s now-defunct blog Valleywag the “Silicon Valley equivalent of al-Qaeda.” The dispute has evolved into a clash of tech titans, as First Look Media, a news organization founded by Silicon Valley billionaire Pierre Omidyar, has said it will support Gawker. Gawker and Thiel have a contentious history: The website outed him as gay in 2007. Thiel, the libertarian-leaning venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal and sits on the board of Facebook Inc., made a financial contribution to the suit. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, sued the media- and celebrity-focused website in 2012 over the publication of a tape showing him having sex with a friend’s wife, claiming the publication cost him endorsements and inflicted emotional harm. Bankruptcy would allow the assets to be sold “free and clear” of legal liabilities, the company said. The bankruptcy and sale “are intended to preserve the value” of Gawker and fund its appeal of the Hogan verdict, according to the statement. “Gawker Media Group is putting its properties up for sale after a coordinated barrage of lawsuits intended to put the company out of business and deter its writers from offering critical coverage,” the company said in the statement, adding that it failed to persuade the Florida court to stay the litigation while Gawker challenges the verdict. Ziff Davis agreed to pay around $100 million, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the pricing isn’t public. Gawker founder Nick Denton said in a statement that Ziff Davis' e-commerce, licensing and video assets would be a good fit with Gawker's websites, which include tech site Gizmodo, sports site Deadpsin, video-game site Kotaku, celebrity and women-focused site Jezebel, news and gossip site Gawker, car-site Jalopnik and self-help site Lifehacker.Gawker said in a statement that Ziff Davis has agreed to purchase its assets if no better offers emerge in a court-supervised auction. In the filing, Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, was listed as Gawker's biggest creditor. Another Gawker site, Valleywag, ran a number of stories skewering Facebook, which provided a big chunk of Thiel's estimated $2.7 billion fortune.Ī spokesman for Thiel said he had no comment on Friday. Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and was an early investor in Facebook, has been a frequent target of Gawker writers, who have written unflattering pieces about Thiel's political beliefs and utopian goals. It was later revealed that billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel had been secretly funding Hogan's lawsuit. Hogan was awarded $115 million in compensatory damages plus an added $25.1 million in punitive damages. Hogan sued Gawker after it posted a video of him having sex with a friend's wife. The New York company said in the filing that it has as much as $500 million in debt and up to $100 million in assets. The sale will be conducted through bankruptcy court so other bidders could emerge. Gawker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, about three months after Hogan won a lawsuit against the online gossip and news publisher. ![]() The company says it plans to sell itself to publishing company Ziff Davis. NEW YORK (AP) - Gawker is filing for bankruptcy protection and will sell itself rather than pay $140 million to pro wrestler Hulk Hogan. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |