Gawker Media founder files for personal bankruptcy

Gawker Media Chief Executive Nick Denton filed for personal bankruptcy protection on Monday, according to court documents that name his largest creditor as Hulk Hogan, a former professional wrestler who won a $140 million court judgment against the news website over a sex tape it posted.

Denton listed assets of $10 million to $50 million and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million in his Chapter 11 petition filed at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Earlier on Monday, he tweeted that he wanted to protect colleagues from a "vendetta" by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who funded Hogan's Florida lawsuit.

Gawker Media filed for bankruptcy in June after Hogan won the judgment. The wrestler had accused the site of violating his privacy by posting a sex tape featuring Hogan having sex with the wife of his then-best friend, the radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.

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