ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gawker will have to wrestle with serious financial problems that could ultimately put it out of business, sources told The Post Friday after the Hulk Hogan jury body-slammed the Web site.
Under Florida law, the media company must post a $50 million bond about a month after a St. Petersburg jury decides next week if Hogan is entitled to punitive damages beyond the $115 million it already awarded to the wresting legend.
Gawker is now valued at an estimated $250 million. A source close to the case said he believes it will be impossible for the company to come up with that kind of cash on such short notice.
But, “it’s not clear whether or not a court would enforce a bond on a company that does not have that in cash,” the source added.
“Is a court going to force a company to engage in some kind of money-raising exercise just to put money in escrow? If the trial judge imposes the maximum $50 million bond, Gawker will appeal, arguing that is unreasonable while they’re pursuing having the case overturned.”
If Gawker can’t afford the bond, the company can still appeal the judgment, but at that point Hogan would be able to start seizing assets belonging to its founder, Nick Denton, as well as other Web sites he owns, said lawyer Alexander E. Barthet, of the Barthet Firm, who specializes in liens and bonds and writes the “The Lien Zone” blog.
“Let’s assume a judgment is entered and the judgment debtor has cars, companies, bank accounts, a plane, all of those things…can be attached, picked up, and sold.
“We have a judge who’s ruled that someone’s won and someone’s lost.
“The loser wants a second bite of the apple. It’s going to take time, and it’s going to prevent the winner from collecting [immediately] on a judgment.’’
Gawker, whose other Web sites include Deadspin and Jezebel, can also ask the court to reduce the bond amount while it appeals.
Gawker has feared losing the invasion-of-privacy suit for some time.
Earlier this year, the site sold a stake of the company to a private investor, Columbus Nova Technology Partners, to come up with extra funds for the Hogan legal battle.
Meanwhile, even though Gawker live-streamed parts of the trial, as of late last night it hadn’t put the verdict story on its Web site.