![]() ![]() On LinkedIn, D’Souza says he finished his Oxford law studies around 2011, and later went on to found the Australian branch of the Nexus Youth Summit, a Clinton Global Initiative–connected philanthropy organization. Three sources confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Melbourne-based D’Souza, who has few public connections to Thiel, was the mastermind of Thiel’s legal strategy. D’Souza was aware of Thiel’s public comments likening Valleywag to al-Qaeda, and presented a brazen idea: Pay someone or create a company to hire lawyers to go after Gawker. It’s unclear how D’Souza and Thiel first met, but according to one source, the Australian, who had studied law at Oxford, dined with the Facebook board member in spring 2011. Then, in 2011, Thiel met with Aron D’Souza and as Denton said, something changed. Following that comment, Thiel met with then–Gawker editor Ryan Tate in August 2009, reportedly quipping at that meeting, “See? I’m willing to negotiate with terrorists.”įrom 2007 on, Gawker and Valleywag continued to critically cover Thiel and the ups and downs of his businesses, including hedge fund Clarium Capital. The next spring, he spoke openly about its Silicon Valley–focused publication, Valleywag, which he compared to al-Qaeda in one interview. Thiel, however, remained conflicted about Gawker Media. “As a true believer in the critical importance of free speech, I am delighted to support CPJ’s fight for the rights of journalists around the world,” Thiel was quoted as saying in CPJ’s 2008 annual report. In late June, Thiel pledged $250,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Sicha suggested that Thiel meet with reporters, and also listened to a plan for Thiel to donate to journalistic causes. Sicha, who declined to comment for this story, was introduced to Thiel by famous New York lawyer Eddie Hayes, who hoped that the former Gawker staffer might help the venture capitalist improve his relationship with the outlet. ![]() Something changed.”Īccording to two sources, Thiel met with former Gawker editor Choire Sicha in May 2008 at a Midtown Manhattan apartment. “Before the lawsuits were launched, he wooed. “All I know is that he was meeting off-the-record with Gawker bloggers years after we put on the screen the widely known fact that the Valley investor was gay,” Denton told BuzzFeed News. The Gawker reporter who wrote that story, Owen Thomas, previously wrote that a Thiel representative “assured me that he had no issue with the post,” while Nick Denton, Gawker’s founder, said that following the post, the tech investor went “on a broader media charm offensive.” While many believe that Thiel’s decision-making was driven largely by the publication of a December 2007 article titled “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people,” the situation was more nuanced. A, following a period in which he met with current and former Gawker staffers to understand why he drew the scrutiny of their coverage. ![]() Thiel, however, only proceeded with his plan three years later when he met Mr. The revelation of D’Souza’s role paints a clearer picture of Thiel’s plan to finance litigation against Gawker following its 2007 publication of articles he considered invasive and hurtful. D’Souza did not return multiple phone calls to his offices, emails, and a LinkedIn message sent by BuzzFeed News. Thiel declined an interview for this piece through a spokesperson. He’s left many questions, like those about his exact motivations and how he funded Hogan’s case, unanswered. Since 2016, Thiel has sparingly discussed his role in destroying Gawker, sitting for just three public interviews and writing a single New York Times opinion piece. ![]() Two months later, Forbes reported that Thiel had been secretly funding Hogan’s lawsuit, and others, against Gawker Media. The online news outlet, which published clips of a sex tape featuring Hogan and his friend’s wife, lost that case in March 2016, with a Florida jury awarding the plaintiff with a $140 million judgment. D’Souza’s involvement, which has not been previously reported, provides more clarity into how the billionaire technology investor executed a plot that involved paying about $10 million to fund litigation against Gawker, including an invasion of privacy lawsuit brought by former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. ![]()
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