Gawker and Hulk Hogan

The New York Times, in a story syndicated by CNBC, reported in May 2016 that Hogan “had a secret benefactor paying for the lawsuit, to the tune of about $10 million: Peter Thiel.” Thiel said estimates of $10 million were “roughly in the ballpark.” [1]

Vox reported that he “paid lawyers to find plaintiffs for him to support.” He said: “It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence,” and called it “one of my greater philanthropic things that I’ve done.” [2]

The bankruptcy court’s record notes that “Thiel has acknowledged that he financed the Bollea Litigation”; Bollea is Hogan’s legal name. [3]

The origin was the 2007 post outing him. Ryan Holiday, whose book Conspiracy reconstructed the plan, told The Federalist about how it was organized. [4][5]

Thiel argued in an August 2016 Times op-ed that the case was about privacy and that the debate over what journalists may publish about private lives would not end with Gawker. [1]

The Committee to Protect Journalists, which disclosed that Thiel and his foundation had given it significant support from 2008 to 2013, said it backed the right to seek redress for invasion of privacy but did “not support efforts to abuse the process by seeking to punish or bankrupt particular media outlets.” [2]

Right-leaning outlets were split. The Washington Examiner reported Thiel’s own reasoning at length, and The Federalist’s interview treated it as a story of a long, patient plan. [3][4]

Gawker settled for $31 million in November 2016. [5]