Gawker files for bankruptcy protection months after Hulk Hogan privacy lawsuit

On Friday, June 10, Gawker Media Group filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in an effort to dodge paying $140.1 million to wrestler Hulk Hogan and entrepreneur Peter Thiel. He also calls Gawker Media and Ziff Davis “a tremendous fit” in terms of brands, audience and monetization.

The edgy media company, led by Nick Denton and known for blogs like Jezebel and Deadspin, had assets of $50 million to $100 million and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million, according to bankruptcy court filings in NY.

So it has come to this – after coming up on the losing end of a lawsuit filed against it by Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan), Gawker Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Mr. Denton has 45 million shares, representing about a 30% stake in the company, said Michael Berry, an attorney for Gawker.

Among other things, Denton claimed that Hogan’s real reason for suing Gawker was to prevent the publication of another damaging tape in which he is heard using racial slurs.

Gawker Media Group has filed for bankruptcy protection and is putting itself up for auction.

According to Recode, the company has been entertaining an offer from publisher Ziff Davis to buy the operation for less than $100 million.

In 2012, Gawker published a video clip of Hulk Hogan having sex with the wife of his friend, radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.

Gawker also won a small victory in a Florida courtroom on Friday, when a judge granted the company’s motion to postpone the 0 million judgement.

During the sale, Gawker Media will continue operating as normal, the company said.

During the Bollea trial, it was revealed that all of Gawker’s assets amount to $83 million, and that a year ago it earned a gross revenue of $48.7 million.

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.

Gawker and Thiel have a contentious history: The website outed him as gay in 2007.

“Under the Chapter 11 process, the Bankruptcy Court will soon set a schedule for other potential bidders to enter the sale process”, he said.

“It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence”, Thiel said last month.

The jury ruled in the former wrestler’s favour and ordered Gawker to pay $115m in compensation and $25m in punitive damage.