Is Peter Thiel not yet done with Gawker?
When the billionaire Silicon Valley investor funded the lawsuit that bankrupted the media company, most assumed the drama would be forever laid to rest. But Thiel wants the opportunity to bid on Gawker’s remains, according to the Wall Street Journal. On Wednesday, lawyers for the controversial figure filed papers in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York claiming he was excluded from bidding on the shuttered website’s archives–which some have predicted, he would want to edit and/or erase.
As such, the lawyers requested pausing the sale of Gawker assets until bidding issues are resolved: “By wrongly excluding Mr. Thiel, the most able and logical purchaser, from the sale process on specious grounds…the Plan Administrator will only depress the value to be achieved in any sale,” reads the filing, which was first reported by BuzzFeed.
The public response was swift, with many criticizing Thiel’s purported moves on social media.
a cool thing about the American legal system is it's 90% openly for sale, deepest pockets wins https://t.co/L2iMLSwtEW
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) November 22, 2017
Of all the news to bury right before a holiday, it’s Thiel trying to fully erase the existence of Gawker. I wonder if this is due to the particular types of stories Gawker tended to get right well before other sites did? 🤔 https://t.co/yuGmEfCIL5
— anildash.com (@anildash) November 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/rgay/status/933494961760120834
According to BuzzFeed, the spokesperson for Thiel declined to comment, and his counsel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
