Litigation Finance, Money

Why This Billionaire Used Litigation Finance As A Weapon In His War Against Gawker

Is this tech tycoon doing a good deed, or are his actions purely selfish in nature?

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Peter Thiel (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

Peter Thiel (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence. I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredibly damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest. [Gawker’s articles were] very painful and paralyzing for people who were targeted. I thought it was worth fighting back.

I can defend myself. Most of the people they attack are not people in my category. They usually attack less prominent, far less wealthy people that simply can’t defend themselves. [E]ven someone like Terry Bollea who is a millionaire and famous and a successful person didn’t quite have the resources to do this alone.

— Peter Thiel, billionaire tech entrepreneur and co-founder of PayPal, explaining some of the reasons why he decided to secretly finance wrestler Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker after the website published part of Hogan’s sex tape. Thiel has admitted to funding past and current lawsuits against Gawker, and his actions have raised constitutional, ethical, and moral questions about litigation finance.

(Thiel was outed by Gawker’s Valleywag blog in December 2007.)

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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