Gawker.comthe old Gawker Media flagship that was shut down nearly two years in the wake of the notorious Peter Thiel-funded Hulk Hogan lawsuitapparently has a new home.Reuters is reporting that Bryan Goldberg, the owner of sites including Bustle and Elite Daily, “has prevailed in the bankruptcy auction for Gawker.com with a $1.35 million bid.” If the news is accurateGoldberg and the other players have yet to comment, reportedly because they’re planning an official announcementit won’t entirely be a surprise. Back when Nick Denton’s Gawker Media empire was put up for sale in 2016 (everything except Gawker.com, which was considered radioactive at the time, sold), Bustle was one of the rumored parties interested in Gawker Media’s Jezebel (which ultimately went with its sibling sites to Univision). Jezebel was/is a strong (women-centric) media brand of its own, but it was created in the Gawker crucible and shared a certain sensibility (and a number of writers over the years) with the mothership.Here we should note that Bryan Goldberg is a character who has been regarded suspiciously, even contemptuously, by fellow digital media types. Back in 2014, Amanda Hess called him “The Bro Whisperer of Bustle” (subhead: “Bryan Goldberg’s site for women was doomed from the start. One year later, it’s hugely successful. What’s his secret?”) in a Slate post.
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