The New York Times reports that Hulk Hogan had a secret financial backer with some deep pockets for his lawsuits against Gawker. Hogan successfully sued Gawker for $140 million in an invasion of privacy case this year, and today Judge Pamela Campbell denied motions by Gawker for a retrial and for reducing the penalties awarded to Hogan.
According to the Times, Peter Theil, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal, secretly bankrolled Hogan’s legal cases against Gawker. As of press time, Hogan has filed a total of three lawsuits against the New York-based publisher. Theil was outed as gay by Gawker in 2007.
The news of Theil’s funding comes just days after Gawker founder Nick Denton indicated that he believes Hogan’s attorneys were being paid for by someone in Silicon Valley.
