Nick Denton Net Worth

What is Nick Denton's net worth?

Nick Denton is a British journalist and internet entrepreneur who has a net worth of -$10 million. Nick Denton is best known for being the founder of Gawker Media. He launched Gawker in 2002 with two blogs, Gawker.com and gadget hub Gizmodo.com. At its peak the conglomerate controlled a dozen websites and was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Unfortunately for Nick, the Gawker empire fell in March 2016 when a Florida jury ordered Gawker to pay Hulk Hogan $140 million in damages connected to a lawsuit over a sex tape that featured Hogan. The website claimed that posting the video was protected by free speech because it was newsworthy. Hogan claimed that the tape was filmed without his permission by hidden cameras. Denton was held to be personally liable for at least $10 million of the judgment.

Nick Denton Bankruptcy

On August 1st, 2016, Nick Denton filed for personal bankruptcy. In the filing he listed his only assets as his 30% stake in Gawker and his NYC apartment. He valued both at as much $50 million, but potentially much less. He listed his liabilities at as much as $150 million.

Early Life and Education

Born on August 24, 1966, in London, Denton grew up in a family with an intellectual and global perspective. His father, Geoffrey Denton, was a British economist, while his mother, Marika Marton, was a Hungarian psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor. Denton was educated at University College School, a prestigious independent school in London, before moving on to study Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at University College, Oxford.

Entrance Into Journalism

Upon graduating from Oxford, Denton began his career in journalism at the Financial Times in 1988. He displayed a natural knack for the field and quickly rose through the ranks, serving as a reporter in London, Budapest, and San Francisco. His work in San Francisco during the dot-com boom of the late '90s exposed him to the burgeoning world of digital technology and entrepreneurship, sparking an interest that would ultimately redefine his career.

Early Internet Ventures

Denton left the Financial Times in 1998 to co-found a social networking site, First Tuesday, and a news aggregator, Moreover Technologies, in 2000. These initial ventures into the digital space allowed Denton to explore the Internet's capacity for community building and information sharing. His experiences laid the groundwork for the creation of Gawker Media, a project that would put Denton at the forefront of digital media.

Creation and Expansion of Gawker Media

In 2002, Denton founded Gawker Media with the launch of its flagship blog, Gawker.com. Under Denton's leadership, Gawker distinguished itself with its edgy, tell-all approach to news, often revealing scandalous or controversial details about public figures.

Over time, Gawker Media expanded its portfolio with several new blogs, each catering to a different niche. Gizmodo focused on technology, Lifehacker provided life tips and tricks, Jezebel highlighted women's issues, and Deadspin covered sports. Each of these sites mirrored Gawker's raw and audacious style, and the network quickly gained popularity.

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Controversy, Lawsuits, and the Fall of Gawker

Gawker's bold style often put the company at the center of controversy, and none was more consequential than the legal battle with Terry Bollea, also known as Hulk Hogan. In 2012, Gawker posted a short excerpt of a sex tape involving Hogan without his permission. Hogan sued Gawker, Denton, and the editor-in-chief of Gawker.com for invasion of privacy, resulting in a $140 million judgment against Gawker Media in 2016.

The lawsuit, secretly funded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire tech entrepreneur and a previous target of Gawker's reporting, led Gawker Media to file for bankruptcy. The company was later sold to Univision Communications, and Gawker.com was shut down in 2016, marking an abrupt end to Denton's empire.

Life After Gawker

Following Gawker's closure, Denton filed for personal bankruptcy and largely retreated from the public eye.