The adviser in charge of liquidating Gawker Media LLC is putting up for sale potential legal claims the former blog publisher may have against Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who secretly financed litigation that drove the company into bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The decision expands a marketing process already under way for Gawker Media’s flagship site, Gawker.com, which ceased operation in August 2016. Parties have subsequently expressed interest in Gawker Media’s potential causes of action against Thiel, prompting the decision to include them in the sale process, said William Holden, a managing director at Dacarba LLC who is overseeing the sale. Thiel financed Hulk Hogan’s successful lawsuit against Gawker Media, the ruling on which resulted in a $140 million judgment and forced the company and founder Nick Denton into chapter 11. The case concerned publication on Gawker.com of excerpts from a sex tape featuring Terry Bollea, Hogan’s real name.
