After Bankrupting Gawker, Peter Thiel Demands a Chance to Buy Them (buzzfeed.com)

An anonymous reader quotes BuzzFeed: In a federal bankruptcy court filing on Wednesday, lawyers for venture capitalist Peter Thiel objected to the ongoing sale process of Gawker.com, arguing that the billionaire has been unfairly excluded from bidding for the assets of the defunct news website... Whoever ends up buying the site will also buy its archives, which are still up, and will have the right to do with them what they want, including delete them. In the filing, Thiel's lawyers allege that he was prevented from receiving information in regard to a potential bid for Gawker.com by plan administrator William Holden and his counsel, Gregg Galardi, following a Wall Street Journal story in October that said Holden and Galardi had started to market the website to potential buyers...

The Wall Street Journal reported that Holden has been exploring the sale of Gawker.com since July, and that he recently marketed the site's potential legal claims against Thiel as part of its appeal. The marketing of those claims is at the center of Thiel's complaint, in which his lawyers argue that Holden should not be able to conduct a sale of those claims and ask that the court drop a motion that allows for discovery to move forward. Thiel's representatives also said that they contacted those administrating the sale of Gawker.com last month "to express Mr. Thiel's interest in participating in the sale process," but that they had been rebuffed and then ignored.
Thiel's complaint calls him the "most able and logical purchaser."

Comments

Hulk crush puny Gawker

[rmdingler]

Say what you will.

Thiel may be easy to dislike, but he beat Gawker like a rented mule.

Re:Hulk crush puny Gawker

[Wuhao]

I'd phrase it more like, Thiel paid for people to sue them for their repeated wrong-doings, until one day Gawker finally said "WHAT, YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT US? YOU CAN'T HURT US IF WE KILL OURSELVES FIRST" and then they proceeded to publicly antagonize the judge, violate court orders, knowingly misrepresent their finances to the court and testify under oath that they'd publish child porn. And that's just the highlight reel.

Re:Seller's choice

[Fencepost]

The argument to be made to a bankruptcy judge will likely be that if Thiel is willing to pay more than anyone else then it should be sold to him so that money can be used to settle Gawker's outstanding debts. Barring him from the bidding may reduce the amount paid and thus harm the creditors.

I do find myself wondering every time I see him mentioned whether Thiel actually has any redeeming qualities at all.

All well and proper

[Ol Olsoc]

This is merely an excellent way to acquire new businesses. If the math is there, and you want it, Bankrupt the business first, then buy it. My free market senses are tingling with the new business model. What is more, it is approved in the Holy Bible - reference Uriah the Hittite, killed by King David, who was already yencing Uriah's wife, knocked her up, and after having Uriah out of the way, married her. So all is good.

Re:All well and proper

[Bigbutt]

It's not news actually. Back in 89 I was working for a computer company that made flip-up cases for PCs. The owner was looking for funding an a lawyer came along and said he'd line it up. The owner made purchases based on the agreement but the lawyer bailed on it leaving the owner holding the bag and the business going under. The owner was rumored to have bailed after finding out this is what the lawyer did; offer funding, bail on it, then swoop in and buy the assets after the business goes bust. We lost our last 6 weeks of pay trying to stick it out.

[John]

Re:All well and proper

[Solandri]

The anger directed at Thiel over the Gawker case is reminiscent of the anger about the DNC's hacked emails. Those who are angry completely overlook that if Gawker/the DNC hadn't done anything wrong, there wouldn't have been any fallout in the first place. Gawker never would've been sued for publishing Bollea's sex tape. There would've been no evidence of the Democratic party leadership tampering with the primary process. They don't want to hear the message, so they do their best to ignore it and try to shoot the messenger.

If Thiel had bought judges to engineer some grave miscarriage of justice, I'd have some sympathy for Gawker. But the fundamental truth is most people don't think the right to a free press includes the right to publicize a sex tape recorded without consent. Literally everyone can see themselves somehow winding up in Bollea's (Hulk Hogan's) situation, and they do not want anyone, even the press, to have the right to publicize that tape without their consent. That, plain and simple, is why Gawker lost in a jury trial. That's what bankrupted them, not Thiel helping pay for the lawsuit.

If you don't want to be bankrupted, don't do stupid, illegal, or ethically questionable things which could bankrupt you. This above all: to thine own self be true. Follow that rule and the only thing you have to worry about is being framed. I think Wikileaks is biased and disagree with its MO, but that doesn't mean I automatically side with the people whose stupid, illegal, or ethically questionable secrets Wikileaks reveals. On the contrary I usually think those people are despicable for doing those stupid, illegal, or ethically questionable things.

Hating on Thiel and alternative facts

[mi]

Gawker didn't slander Thiel

You are not wrong here. Indeed, Thiel never accused Gawker of slandering anybody.

by outing him

WTF? Thiel was openly gay years before Gawker first heard of him... Get your alternative facts closer to reality.

the news was true.

"Revenge porn" is nearly always true as well — the videos and photos are unaltered. Is it Ok to do it? How about "doxing"?

His revenge campaign is petty and should be thwarted by all means available.

His revenge campaign is complete — he caused the assholes to run into the ground. He just wants to piss at their crash-site. To "thwart" him, you have to offer the Gawker's creditors a deal better than Thiel is offering. Pony up the cash, or shut up.

Re: Hating on Thiel and alternative facts

[mi]

No buyer is entitled to the purchase.

Yes, usually it is up to the sellers to decide. But Gawker aren't the sellers any more — they are bankrupt and owned by their creditors, represented by the bankruptcy judge. It is the judge's duty to liquidate the property in a manner most profitable to the creditors. Hence my statement: whoever wants to thwart Thiel, has to offer more money.

Re:Peter Thiel is just another Republican faggot

[niftydude]

It's not "being gay is magical armor" it's "treat gays like human beings for fuck sake (which many republicans still have issues with)" which means they can do bad things and be hated on.

If that was the case, then you wouldn't have the word "faggot" in your comment subject. The second a homosexual does something that doesn't fit into your ethical framework, people like the AC op call him a "faggot" and a "traitor".

You can't use a historically bigoted insult, then just claim you are treating Thiel like a regular human being that has done a bad thing.

Microsoft had it down to a science

[raymorris]

Microsoft perfected that process back in the day. They'd make a great offer for a company's technology. Microsoft would agree to buy X units, at a price very profitable to the company, after they made a few improvements or integrations with Microsoft's other software. Of course, the target company wasn't allowed to sell to anyone else during that period. In the fine print Microsoft would get right of first refusal if the company was ever sold.

The company would work to make the improvements and integrations Microsoft asked for, unable to take any other customers during that time. When it came time for Microsoft to accept delivery, they'd sit on it for a month and not reply. Then they'd decline delivery, asking for more changes. When that run-around finally ended they'd eventually have to accept delivery, so then they sit in making the payment. Sometimes the contract might call for a late fee, which doesn't matter when they aren't paying anyway. A year after the contract was signed, without being allowed to sell to any other customers and having not been paid by Microsoft, the company would go under. The owners might well be behind on their mortgage at this point. That's when Microsoft would offer to buy the company for a pittance. They did the same dance over and over again.

Re:This is what an oligarchy looks like.,

[DNS-and-BIND]

Billionaires wanting to destroy critics? Look no further than Media Matters. In a 49-page document marked PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL, the entire anti-Trump plan is laid out. Called "DEMOCRACY MATTERS, Strategic Plan For Action", it lists four leftist partner organizations: Media Matters, American Bridge 21st Century, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Shareblue. These are some of the most well-funded, well-entrenched, and well known leftist organizations in America. Billionaire George Soros is a key backer. Despicable, you say?

https://mediaequalizer.com/jef...