The money for the sale will be put in escrow while Gawker appeals the Hogan case. Gawker plans to continue operating while it proceeds with the auction and fights off the legal challenge from Hogan, according to Politico: Our sites will thrive - under new ownership - and we'll win in court. A combination would marry Ziff Davis’ strength in e-commerce, licensing and video with GMG’s premium media brands.ĭenton was defiant on Twitter shortly after news of the sale broke:Įven with his billions, Thiel will not silence our writers. We are encouraged by the agreement with Ziff Davis, one of the most rigorously managed and profitable companies in digital media. In a statement, Gawker Founder Nick Denton said the company was “encouraged” by the prospect of its sale to Ziff Davis. Gawker has said that it expects to ultimately prevail. Proceeds from a sale will go into a fund to finance further litigation costs and cover whatever damages may ultimately be leveled following the appeals process, which could take years to resolve. The case could “take years to resolve,” according to The Wall Street Journal: The bankruptcy and sale are intended as a bulwark against a raft of lawsuits launched against Gawker Media on behalf of Peter Thiel, the billionaire PayPal founder who’s bankrolling multiple cases against the company with the intent to snuff it out.
Gawker Media will now be put up for auction, with a $100 million offer from publisher Ziff Davis LLC as the opening bid. Gawker has told it employees it still plans to fight the Thiel/Hogan case and to operate its publishing business while it does so.
Gawker out of business trial#
Gawker and owner Nick Denton are making the Chapter 11 filing today, in order to avoid paying Thiel and Hulk Hogan the $140 million judgement they won in Hogan’s privacy trial earlier this year. The filing is a maneuver intended to prevent Hulk Hogan - the ex-professional wrestler who earlier this year won a $140-million-plus invasion-of-privacy judgment against Gawker Media - from collecting his bounty, according to Recode’s Peter Kafka:
Gawker Media, the pioneering digital media company beset by legal entanglements fueled by a Silicon Valley billionaire, filed for bankruptcy this afternoon.
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