--- description: Peter Thiel confirmed reports that he paid $10 million to finance professional wrestler Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against media company Gawker. title: Peter Thiel Confirms He Funded Hulk Hogan's Gawker Lawsuit image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d7572806cab0611/69889517cf40a8a4d7c43682/gettyimages-520668034.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Silicon Valley Billionaire Peter Thiel Says He Funded Hulk Hogan's Lawsuit Against Gawker by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 26, 2016 5:43 AM CUT  Peter Thiel, founding investor in PayPal Inc. and Facebook Inc., speaks during the LendIt USA 2016 conference in San Francisco, April 12, 2016. Peter Thiel, founding investor in PayPal Inc. and Facebook Inc., speaks during the LendIt USA 2016 conference in San Francisco, April 12, 2016.Noah Berger—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 26, 2016 5:43 AM CUT Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and high-profile tech investor, [confirmed reports](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/business/dealbook/peter-thiel-tech-billionaire-reveals-secret-war-with-gawker.html "undefined") that he paid $10 million to finance professional wrestler Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against media company Gawker. In an interview with the New York _Times_ published Wednesday, Thiel said he wanted to “fight back” against the type of articles Gawker publishes, which he described as “very painful and paralyzing for people who were targeted” — himself included. Gawker had outed the 48-year-old entrepreneur in a 2007 article entitled “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people,” and in 2012 released a [sex tape](http://time.com/4249492/hulk-hogan-gawker-trial-sex-tape/?iid=sr-link7 "undefined") of Hogan that led to the high-profile lawsuit. The wrestler, whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, was [awarded](http://time.com/4265214/gawker-appeal-verdict-hulk-hogan-trial/?xid=homepage "undefined") $115 million by a Florida court in March this year, which it later [increased](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/business/media/hulk-hogan-damages-25-million-gawker-case.html "undefined") to $140 million. Gawker is appealing. “It’s less about revenge and more about specific deterrence,” Thiel told the _Times._ “I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredibly damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest.” \[[_NYT_](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/business/dealbook/peter-thiel-tech-billionaire-reveals-secret-war-with-gawker.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4348840/peter-thiel-gawker-lawsuit-hulk-hogan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4348840/peter-thiel-gawker-lawsuit-hulk-hogan/"},"headline":"Silicon Valley Billionaire Peter Thiel Says He Funded Hulk Hogan's Lawsuit Against Gawker","datePublished":"2016-05-26T05:43:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:50:56.697Z","description":"Thiel said it was \"less about revenge and more about specific deterrence\"","url":"https://time.com/4348840/peter-thiel-gawker-lawsuit-hulk-hogan/","keywords":["celebrities","Lawsuit","Silicon Valley","paypal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d7572806cab0611/69889517cf40a8a4d7c43682/gettyimages-520668034.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d7572806cab0611/69889517cf40a8a4d7c43682/gettyimages-520668034.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At The LendIt USA 2016 Conference","caption":"Peter Thiel, founding investor in PayPal Inc. and Facebook Inc., speaks during the LendIt USA 2016 conference in San Francisco, April 12, 2016.","creditText":"Noah Berger—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4348840/peter-thiel-gawker-lawsuit-hulk-hogan/","name":"Silicon Valley Billionaire Peter Thiel Says He Funded Hulk Hogan's Lawsuit Against Gawker"}}]}] ```