Gawker Media LLC bankruptcy lawyers said yesterday that Peter Thiel shouldn’t be allowed to bid on its namesake blog, Gawker.com, unless the billionaire venture capitalist agrees to settle or otherwise end potential legal claims Gawker is pursuing against him related to the former blog publisher’s demise, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The response comes a week after Thiel demanded he be allowed to participate in a continuing sale process for Gawker, which filed for bankruptcy after losing a lawsuit filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan and financed by Thiel. His lawyers have argued that he is the “the most able and logical purchaser” for Gawker.com but that so far, his requests to participate in the sale process have been rebuffed. Gawker Media’s lawyers said yesterday that William Holden, a managing director at professional services firm Dacarba LLC who is overseeing the sale process, “has good reason to doubt” that Thiel’s involvement at this time would maximize the potential value in Gawker.com or even result in a good-faith bid from Thiel for the website. Among the concerns Gawker Media’s lawyers cite is what they describe as Thiel’s “long history of vindictive conduct” against the publisher.
