NEW YORK — Gawker Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, about three months after pro wrestler Hulk Hogan won a $140 million lawsuit against the online gossip and news publisher.
The New York company says in the filing that it has as much as $500 million in debt and up to $100 million in assets.
Hogan sued Gawker after it posted a video of him having sex with a friend’s wife. Hogan was awarded $115 million in compensatory damages plus an added $25.1 million in punitive damages.
It was later revealed that billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel had been secretly funding Hogan’s lawsuit.