Gawker Owner Files Bankruptcy Due To Hogan Trial
Like the leg drop that beat Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3 for the WWE Title, Hulk Hogan’s figurative leg drop on Gawker after their much covered trial forced the company to file for bankruptcy.
Gawker Media founder Nick Denton wrote a memo to staffers that he would join the company in filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Denton also filed for personal bankruptcy on August 1. The move is due to Hogan winning the privacy trial over Gawker and being awarded $140.1 million,
“Gawker endures,” Denton stated.
Gawker’s assets are now currently being auctioned off, and tech publisher Ziff Davis submitted an opening bid of $90 million earlier this summer. The bid is significantly less than the $200 million valuation of the company in the pre-trial. Higher bids are due by August 15. The winner is expected to be announced on August 18.
Gawker’s own media reporter, J.K. Trotter, reported that “Denton is personally responsible for $10 million, and jointly responsible, along with former Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio, and Gawker Media itself, for $115 million. Chapter 11 bankruptcy will prevent Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, from draining Denton’s bank accounts or seizing any of his assets.”
Hogan’s trial was being funded by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. Denton, meanwhile, has fought to put the spotlight on Thiel for doing so. Thiel, who resented Gawker Media’s past stories about him, confirmed in May that he financed Hogan’s “fight against a bully’s gross violation of privacy.”
Hulk Hogan was removed from WWE TV in relation to several tapes that surfaced in relation to the lawsuit, which featured him going on racial tirades. He has not returned to the company.
