The Slatest

Gawker Media Sold to Univision for $135 Million

Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker Media, talks with his legal team in court at the Pinellas County Courthouse on March 8 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

John Pendygraft-Pool/Getty Images

Gawker Media has been sold in bankruptcy to Univision for $135 million dollars, the site Recode reported on Tuesday.

“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,” Gawker founder Nick Denton said in a statement.

Recode reported that there had been two bids for the company and its seven websites, including Univision’s winning bid and one from Ziff Davis for $90 million. After his lawsuit for invasion of privacy following the publication of a sex tape received the financial backing of tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan won a $140 million judgment in a lawsuit against Gawker Media, Denton, and the site’s former editor A.J. Daulerio.

“I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership—disentangled from the legal campaign against the company,” Denton said. “We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism.”

The sale won’t be final until it is approved by a U.S. bankruptcy court. Gawker was expected to continue to appeal the Hogan ruling.

Gawker was just the latest internet property to be purchased by Univision, Recode reported. The Spanish language television network had recently purchased the Onion, Fusion, and former Slate sister site the Root.