![]() Ziff Davis has not decided on what it would do with if it buys the company, the person said. Ziff Davis is focused on the Gawker brands in the tech, gaming and lifestyle categories, which contribute the vast majority of Gawker Media's revenue, according to a person familiar with the matter. Shah's memo did not mention the flagship site. In an internal memo to employees, Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah said acquiring the Gawker websites Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Kotaku "would fortify our position in consumer tech and gaming." Thiel has since publicly acknowledged that he's gay, and called Gawker's now-defunct blog Valleywag the "Silicon Valley equivalent of al-Qaida." 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, 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. That proposal would be open to competing bids, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the offer isn't public. Ziff Davis has signed an agreement to buy Gawker assets for around $100 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company also asked the court to shield its founder and chief executive officer, Nick Denton, from the Hogan suit and other litigation. The bankruptcy would shield New York-based Gawker from paying the potentially crippling damages award while it seeks a buyer. ![]() The digital media company listed a $130 million claim from the litigation as "disputed" in its Chapter 11 petition, filed Friday in Manhattan. If the judgment is overturned on appeal, then the money held in escrow will be returned to Denton and the company’s other shareholders.Gawker Media filed for bankruptcy after losing a $140 million invasion-of-privacy suit brought by former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and funded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel. If the $140.1 million judgment is upheld on appeal, then the money held in escrow will go to Hogan. 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 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. In June, Gawker Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a result of being ordered to pay roughly 140 million to Hulk Hogan. ![]() 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, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the beginning of the summer, has been bough by Univision for an estimated 135 million. Gawker Media, the pioneering digital media company beset by legal entanglements fueled by a Silicon Valley billionaire, filed for bankruptcy this afternoon. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |