Gawker Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a Florida judge issued a $140 million final judgment in favor of Hulk Hogan in the invasion-of-privacy lawsuit over the posting of a sex tape.
The online news organization founded in 2003 by Nick Denton which now includes other sites like Deadpin, Jezebel and Kotaku, reports that it has less than $100 million in assets and hundreds of millions in liabilities. Gawker is currently facing a wrath of litigation that's been connected to Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. Besides the Hogan suit, there are claims from a journalist and the alleged inventor of e-mail who both say they were defamed. Gawker is also facing off against the parent company of Daily Mail in court and was hit with a copyright lawsuit this week over a photograph of an Uber car.
Gawker has hired the investment bank Houlihan Lokey to advise it on a possible sale. Ziff Davis is said to be eyeing an opening bid of $100 million in an auction for the site, which had about 44 million unique visitors last month.
