Univision buys Gawker assets following Hulk Hogan sex tape verdict

Gawker Media has agreed to sell all of their assets, including Gawker.com, to Univision in a deal worth $135 million.

The move comes on the heels of a June bankruptcy filing, prompted by the company’s courtroom defeat in the Hulk Hogan sex tape trial.

Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, sued Gawker after one of the site’s writers published a clip of a leaked sex tape. The jury in that case awarded him $140 million in March.

It was later discovered that the lawsuit, and several others against Gawker, were funded by Peter Thiel, a powerful Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

Thiel has long-hated Gawker for “outing” him as a gay man a decade ago.

Of all the outcomes I could have imagined when I created Gizmodo, this was certainly not one of them.

— Peter Rojas (@peterrojas) August 16, 2016

Gawker is appealing the Hogan decision in court, but as of now all of the proceeds from this sale will go to the former wrestling star.

The sale of Gawker’s assets ensures that their sites will continue to live-on as part of Univision’s growing portfolio of digital properties.

Beyond the main Gawker.com site, the sale includes Deadspin (sports), Kotaku (video games), Jezebel (women), Gizmodo (gadgets), Jalopnik (cars), and Lifehacker (productivity tips).

“We have been forced by this litigation to give up our longstanding independence,” said Gawker founder Nick Denton. “Our writers remain committed to telling the true stories that underpin credibility with our millions of readers. With stronger backing and disentangled from litigation, they can perform their vital work on more platforms and in different forms.”

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