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]
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