All it took to shut down a 14-year old internationally acclaimed news platform is a Hulk Hogan sextape and an outed gay billionaire in search of vengeance. The platform is Gawker.com and the billionaire is Peter Thiel.
After nearly fourteen years of operation, Gawker.com has announced it will be shutting down next week. The decision to close Gawker comes days after Univision successfully bid $135 million for Gawker Media’s six other websites, and four months after the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel revealed his legal campaign against the company.
Nick Denton, the company’s outgoing CEO, informed current staffers of the site’s fate on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan will decide whether to approve Univision’s bid for Gawker Media’s other assets. Theh company said its staffers will soon be assigned to other editorial roles, either at one of the other six sites or elsewhere within Univision.
