PayPal founder Peter Thiel allegedly funding Hulk Hogan’s attempts to pin Gawker with lawsuit
The founder of PayPal is funding wrestler Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against media outlet Gawker, says Forbes quoting an anonymous source.
With the WWE legend suing the company for a second time after it leaked court documents in which Hogan made racist remarks, having already taken £140m from the company, the legal case is becoming ever more expensive.
It’s being reported that Thiel is backing the lawsuit against the publication with Gawker founder Nick Denon admitting to the New York Times last week that he suspected Hogan’s lawyer was being paid by a third party.
He said: “My own personal hunch is that it's linked to Silicon Valley, but that's nothing really more than a hunch.
"If you're a billionaire and you don't like the coverage of you, and you don't particularly want to embroil yourself any further in a public scandal, it's a pretty smart, rational thing to fund other legal cases."
Thiel has history with Gawker, in 2007 it outed him as gay and if Forbes’ source is on the money, bankrolling a case that could empty the coffers of the publication could be on his agenda.
Gawker released a statement broadening the accusations.
Fresh statement from Gawker on the Peter Thiel reports #hulkvsgawk pic.twitter.com/6ozJyodZ7z
— Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) May 25, 2016