Thiel saw their publication of the tape as the opportunity he was looking for. Only later would the world learn that Gawker's demise was not incidental-it had been masterminded by Thiel.įor years, Thiel had searched endlessly for a solution to what he'd come to call the 'Gawker Problem.' When an unmarked envelope delivered an illegally recorded sex tape of Hogan with his best friend's wife, Gawker had seen the chance for millions of pageviews and to say the things that others were afraid to say. This post would be the casus belli for a meticulously plotted conspiracy that would end nearly a decade later with a $140 million dollar judgment against Gawker, its bankruptcy and with Nick Denton, Gawker's CEO and founder, out of a job.

Thiel's sexuality had been known to close friends and family, but he didn't consider himself a public figure, and believed the information was private. In 2007, a short blogpost on Valleywag, the Silicon Valley-vertical of Gawker Media, outed PayPal founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel as gay. In the tradition of Janet Malcolm's ‘The Journalist and the Murderer’ and Robert Greene's ‘The 48 Laws of Power’ author Ryan Holiday examines the case that rocked the media world-and the billionaire mastermind behind it. Please be sure to provide your email address for important event updates.Ħ:00-6:30 PM: Doors open - networking with small bites and drinksĦ:30-7:30 PM: #ScribdChat with Ryan Holiday The first 50 attendees to arrive will be gifted a FREE copy of ‘Conspiracy.’ It's a study in power, strategy, and one of the most wildly ambitious-and successful-secret plots in recent memory.Īttendance is free, refreshments will be served. Informed by interviews with all the key players, this case transcends the narrative of how one billionaire took down a media empire or the current state of the free press. Holiday’s new book, ‘Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue’, is a masterful telling of the fascinating battle between popular gossip website Gawker and Silicon Valley titan Peter Thiel-an (almost) unbelievable saga that led to Gawker’s ultimate demise.

His creative agency has advised clients like Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as many prominent bestselling authors, including Neil Strauss, Tony Robbins, and Tim Ferriss. Ryan Holiday is the internationally bestselling author of ‘Ego Is the Enemy’ and ‘The Obstacle Is The Way.’ Before joining the New York Observer as media columnist, Holiday was the director of marketing for American Apparel.

Ryan holiday gawker