In May 2016, he confirmed that he'd financed the lawsuit by Terry Bollea, also known as Hulk Hogan, against Gawker Media for invasion of privacy after the news and gossip site published a sex tape involving Bollea. Gawker outed Thiel as gay in an article published in 2007. Speaking with the New York Times in 2016, Thiel said his funding of the lawsuit was "less about revenge and more about specific deterrence. … 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."

Source: Los Angeles Times February 15, 2018 19:32 UTC