Peter Thiel vs Gawker

[Sheilbh]

In a case like VW where VW basically had the DoJ as opponent, would the lawfirms that represent the class action still get a sizeable share of the money? All the hard work was done by the DoJ.

I could be wrong but I imagine the regulatory/government procedure will be a fine for that. The civil suits that follow will be separate. Otherwise VW would get off with only being penalised rather than being penalised for breaking the law and for the harm caused to individual consumers. Though I may be wrong.

But that's certainly how it's worked in the UK with banks getting fined by the regulator for, say, PPI mis-selling and then having to pay out to individual claimants - we've only really just started to develop class actions, they're group litigation here. My mum just got a couple of grand on the PPI

[Zanza]

I could be wrong but I imagine the regulatory/government procedure will be a fine for that. The civil suits that follow will be separate. Otherwise VW would get off with only being penalised rather than being penalised for breaking the law and for the harm caused to individual consumers. Though I may be wrong.

I am pretty sure you are wrong. This may not cover every single case, but the settlement combined like 500 seperate federal and state lawsuits to be settled between the DoJ, the "plaintiff steering committee" and Volkswagen. It defines the options for the individual consumers to recover their damages and also stipulates serious fines for Volkswagen on top of that.

[Sheilbh]

But isn't that for want of a better word a class action of state actors? Hence why it outlines ways for individuals to get their damages.

[Zanza]

No, it's combined state and private actors on the plaintiff side. I just wondered if the plaintiff attorneys now get a sizeable share of the $15 billion settlement...

[The Minsky Moment]

Zanza: the $15 million consists of $10 billion in payments/backbacks to consumers and $5 billion in pollution remediation.

The $10 billion also entails resolution of the private civil law suits so the plaintiff lawyers can and will seek fees based on that settlement.  However, it will not come put of the $10 billion - VW agreed in the settlement to pay the fees ordered by the court on top of the 10 billion.

[Zanza]

Is there any way to estimate how much those fees will be?

[garbon]

http://www.recode.net/2016/8/16/12504008/univision-is-buying-gawker-media-for-135-million

Univision is buying Gawker Media for $135 million

Univision has won the auction for Gawker Media.

The TV network and digital publisher has agreed to pay $135 million for the bankrupt blog network, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Univision's offer will encompass all seven of Gawker Media's sites, including Gawker.com

Ziff Davis and Univision were the only two bidders for Gawker, which filed for bankruptcy after Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel won a $140 million judgment in a privacy case. Ziff Davis had originally offered $90 million for Gawker Media.

Here's a statement from Gawker Media owner Nick Denton: "Gawker Media Group has agreed this evening to sell our business and popular brands to Univision, one of America's largest media companies that is rapidly assembling the leading digital media group for millennial and multicultural audiences. I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership — disentangled from the legal campaign against the company. We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism."

Mark Patricof, the Houlihan Lokey banker who represented Gawker Media, confirmed the sale price.

"The outcome exceeded our expectations. Both parties put in an awful lot of work, and Ziff Davis deserves credit for their effort," Patricof said. "But ultimately Univision prevailed, and both sides are happy with the outcome."

The deal won't be official for a bit. For starters, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge needs to sign off on the transaction. When it is final, the judgment funds will be set aside while Gawker appeals its court case; eventually the money will go to the side that wins.

Whatever the result of the case, the auction is a disappointing conclusion for Denton, who founded the company in 2002.

Last year, as rival media companies like Vice, BuzzFeed and Vox Media (which owns this site) were raising money at increasingly high valuations, Denton was arguing that his company was worth $250 million or more.

Univision, which until recently was best known as a Spanish-language TV network, has been expanding its digital reach in recent years by acquiring satire site The Onion and The Root, a publication aimed at African-Americans.

And earlier this year it picked up full ownership of Fusion, the network and digital publisher aimed at millennials, which it originally launched in conjunction with Disney.

[Martinus]

 

[The Minsky Moment]

Interesting - once again a questionable premise argued by Hogan's lawyers and apparently accepted uncritically by the trial judge - in this case that the Ziff-Davis $90 million bid was equivalent to a valuation - turns out to be wrong.

[Legbiter]

The end of Gawker.com is near.

The 14-year-old website will shut down next week, according to a post on Gawker.com.

Univision on Tuesday agreed to buy the six other sites that make up Gawker Media for $135 million, but the broadcaster did not plan to operate the flagship site.

Gawker Media founder Nick Denton told staff about the shuttering of the website on Thursday, per Gawker.com. There will be a bankruptcy court hearing later on Thursday to approve Univision's bid. It is unclear what will happen to Gawker.com's coverage or the site's archives.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gawkercom-shut-down-next-week-920593

[Valmy]

Oh noes! What will the world do without whatever it was Gawker did for us?

[Sheilbh]

http://internet.gawker.com/i-interrupted-anime-twitter-cybersex-roleplay-as-bar-re-1694251707
Sad

Peter Thiel has now seeded all the journalists working at Gawker with a hatred for him which they can now nurture in all the other publications they're going to join

[garbon]

http://internet.gawker.com/i-interrupted-anime-twitter-cybersex-roleplay-as-bar-re-1694251707
Sad

Peter Thiel has now seeded all the journalists working at Gawker with a hatred for him which they can now nurture in all the other publications they're going to join

at all of it.

[Ed Anger]

The Gawker offices today:

[Martinus]

the journalists working at Gawker

I am not sure people writing for Gawker can be called "journalists", and posting stupid shit online during an unpaid internship "working".