Suddenly, a high-stakes auction is shaping up for the defunct gossipy website Gawker.com.
Alt-right social media personality and author of “Gorilla Mindset” Michael Cernovich, is bidding $500,000, according to a new report.
He’s up against tech billionaire and Pay Pay founder Peter Thiel, a bitter foe of the site founded by Nick Denton that was forced into bankruptcy after it lost an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit to wrestler Hulk Hogan [real name Terry Bollea] in 2016.
“For the past eighteen months I have assembled a video and audio crew who are talented at creating viral content,” Cernovich was said to have written to Gawker bankruptcy plan administrator William Holden at the Dacarba law firm, according to The Hive on VanityFair.com, which broke the story on Tuesday. “I also work with a network of independent journalists. Since Gawker has brand recognition, a blog with a high page rank, and two large social media accounts, my team will be able to leverage these properties to continue my journalistic work.”
Cernovich, a die-hard Trump supporter who calls his adversaries “cucks,” has argued, among other controversial stances, that there is no such thing as rape.
Bids were due Jan. 10. Cernovich’s letter was dated Jan. 9, according to VF.
Holden declined to comment.
Univision bought most of Gawker Media sites, including Gizmodo and Deadspin, in March 2017 and renamed those sites Gizmodo Media. But the original flagship, Gawker.com, was deemed too radioactive after losing the Hulk Hogan lawsuit and was left out of the deal.
A one year non-compete on using Gawker.com expires March 9.
Holden declined to comment.