Gawker website to close after company’s sale to Univision
US website Gawker.com is to close next week after Univision successfully bid for the company earlier this week.
The closure, after nearly 14 years in operation, comes after the publication lost a court battle with wrestler Hulk Hogan. In May, Gawker Media was ordered to pay out $140m to Hogan.
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Univision successfully bid $135m (£107m) for Gawker Media, which includes six other websites including Gizmodo, earlier this week.
It was reported in the US that the closure of Gawker.com was likely because the bidder did not want to be associated with its "toxic" brand.
Nick Denton, Gawker’s founder, informed staff of the closure of Gawker.com on Thursday afternoon.
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Gawker.com announced:
After nearly fourteen years of operation, Gawker.com will be shutting down next week. The decision to close Gawker comes days after Univision successfully bid $135 million for Gawker Media’s six other websites, and four months after the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel revealed his clandestine legal campaign against the company.
Nick Denton, the company’s outgoing CEO, informed current staffers of the site’s fate on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan will decide whether to approve Univision’s bid for Gawker Media’s other assets. The near-term plans for Gawker.com’s coverage, as well as the site’s archives, have not yet been finalised.