Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker, is being paid $16,666 a month to stay out of the news business for two years, according to a non-compete agreement.
Univision Communications, which bought the news site following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will pay that amount to Denton as part of his pact to not "directly or indirectly, associate with any business enterprise that engages in the business in the United States, Puerto Rico or Hungary,” USA Today reported.
Univision paid $135 million to integrate Gawker's six blogs — Lifehacker, Deadspin, Jezebel, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Gizmodo — into its Fusion Media operations. Gawker.com was not part of the deal and has shut down.
The sale is expected to close on Sept. 9, and Denton wants the non-compete agreement approved by the judge before then, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Gawker Media's bankruptcy was sparked by a $140 million invasion of privacy judgment awarded to Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea. Bollea, backed by Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, sued the company over a sex tape.
Denton, who is personally responsible for $10 million of the judgment and jointly responsible for $115 million more, filed for personal bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal said.
Gawker is appealing the judgment, and "many legal experts" have said they expect the appeal to prevail, CNN Money reported.
But, even if the appeal is successful, it'll be too late to save the company.
The deal with Univision marks a departure for the Spanish-language media company.
"The future is young, digital and diverse," Univision's news and digital chief Isaac Lee told media columnist Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post. "No one can own all millennials, but we need to own iconic brands that matter to them."
Twitter users shared mixed reactions to the gossip site's demise and Denton's final post.
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