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Zusammenfassung von Conspiracy

Name: Conspiracy
Rating: 4.3 (60 reviews)
Author: Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday

Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue

4.3 (60 Bewertungen)

17 Min.

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What’s in it for me? Get the inside scoop on the downfall of Gawker Media.

If you followed the news in 2016, you probably read about ex-wrestler Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against the notorious gossip website Gawker. You might know that Hogan won and that Gawker declared bankruptcy, but what’s the story behind the story? How did one of America’s most respected and feared publications sleepwalk into its own financial ruin?

In these blinks, we’ll take a look at how billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel shocked the world with his behind-the-scenes plot to destroy Gawker Media. We’ll examine the origins of Thiel’s hatred of Gawker, and learn how his covert actions ultimately shut down the controversial media outlet. We’ll also hear arguments for and against Thiel’s involvement in Hogan’s case, and explore how Gawker found itself on the stand in the first place.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why Peter Thiel hated Gawker so much;
what a celebrity sex tape had to do with this conspiracy; and
how a few determined people plotted to destroy a powerful company.

In 2007, Peter Thiel believed Gawker Media had invaded his privacy.

“The beginnings of all things are small,” the Roman politician Cicero once said. So it was with the conspiracy at the heart of this story. That small beginning was a blog post published by a gossip website in 2007, which outed a tech investor named Peter Thiel as gay. Just 400 words long, this post is the genesis of a conspiracy that cost millions of dollars and lasted over nine years.

To understand why this post was so significant, we must first learn a little more about both its subject, Peter Thiel, and its publisher, Gawker Media.

Let’s take a look at Peter Thiel first.

In 2007, Thiel was already a wildly successful entrepreneur. Having made his fortune as a founder of the online payments system PayPal, Thiel had also gained recognition as Facebook’s first major investor. Despite coming out to his friends, family and colleagues, Thiel was still discreet about his sexuality in 2007, preferring to keep it a somewhat open secret in Silicon Valley. Indeed, when it came to any aspect of his personal life, Thiel was intensely private.

Now let’s examine the website that published the blog post. This website was called Valleywag. Though it was billed as a tech-news site, Valleywag took its editorial direction from its parent company, the notorious gossip website, Gawker.

Both the Gawker and Valleywag websites were owned by an Englishman named Nick Denton.

Denton’s background may have been in the tech industry, but his true interests were secrets and gossip. Specifically, exposing other people’s secrets via his websites, in the name of entertainment and transparency.

Whose secrets? Particularly those of the rich, powerful or famous. Using an army of young, hungry writers with a gift for witty yet contemptuous writing, Denton encouraged his bloggers to expose and ridicule public people and institutions they felt were hypocritical or hiding something. And audiences loved it. By 2005, Gawker and Denton’s other websites were making $120,000 in monthly advertising revenues. By 2012, Gawker’s revenues were close to $40 million.

However, for all Nick Denton’s media savvy, he gossiped about the wrong person on that day in 2007.

Gawker’s outing of Peter Thiel was just another example of their boundary-pushing journalism.

On December 19, 2007, Peter Thiel’s hatred of Gawker began. This was the day on which, under the headline, “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people,” the Valleywag website outed him. But why did Thiel care so much about this blog post, and was it really the only reason for his hatred of Gawker?

To appreciate the depth of Thiel’s loathing for this company, we must recall the social context of 2007, as well as examine some of the other stories Gawker published around that time.

Attacking Gawker was difficult, but Thiel had a lot of resources to dedicate to the task.

Between 2008 and 2011, Peter Thiel considered what to do about Gawker Media and its propensity for publicly embarrassing people. But how could he hurt them? Almost nobody had ever fought the American media and won. As an old saying goes, never battle anyone who buys their ink in barrels. In other words, don’t pick a fight with journalists.

Sure, Peter Thiel was a billionaire and remarkably intelligent, but his friends were sure that Gawker Media couldn’t be brought down.

Hulk Hogan’s privacy case against Gawker was the opportunity Thiel had been waiting for.

As Mr. A and his team reported back to Thiel on everything Gawker had ever published, Thiel became more convinced than ever that Gawker needed taking down. There seemed to be no lows this gossip website hadn’t stooped to, and gotten away with; it’d even published leaked nude photographs of famous women. But what could Thiel and his lawyers make stick in a court of law?

As luck would have it, in 2012, the right opportunity came along.

Gawker didn’t see Hogan as a real threat until it was too late.

In 2016, Peter Thiel’s conspiracy to attack Gawker came to fruition. A judge ruled Hulk Hogan could sue Gawker for a massive $100 million in damages; Bollea v. Gawker would go before a jury.

At this point in the story, you might assume that Gawker Media and its CEO and founder, Nick Denton, were getting worried. Surprisingly, though, Gawker wasn’t too concerned.

Hogan’s case bankrupted Gawker and resulted in a media backlash against Peter Thiel.

What do you do if a court orders you and your company to pay $140 million in damages? If you’re an independent company like Gawker, you probably have no other choice than to do what Nick Denton did. You declare bankruptcy and shut down your business.

Interestingly, although you’d assume Peter Thiel would be thrilled at this outcome, there was a sting in the tail for him, too.

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Worum geht es in Conspiracy?

Conspiracy (2017) reveals the incredible true story behind the downfall of one of America’s most controversial media outlets. The author explores the motivations and machinations of billionaire Peter Thiel, who conspired against Gawker Media, and details the dramatic courtroom trial that saw wrestler Hulk Hogan win millions in damages against the world’s most notorious gossip website.

Wer Conspiracy lesen sollte

Anyone interested in current affairs
Media buffs interested in journalism
Business students wanting strategy tips

Über den Autor

Ryan Holiday is the best-selling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying. His work has appeared in publications such as Fast Company and the Columbia Journalism Review.

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Politics Biography & Memoir

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