Gawker Media has been sold to Univision for $135 million in a bankruptcy sale completed Tuesday. Univision, the owner of Fusion, The Root, and a stakeholder in The Onion, among other properties, outbid Ziff Davis for the blog network started 14 years ago by Nick Denton. The deal will be made official by a bankruptcy-court judge later this week. While Univision is best known for its Spanish-language TV network, the company has recently made efforts to expand its online portfolio and reach into other demographic groups.
Gawker was forced into bankruptcy after pro wrestler Hulk Hogan (bankrolled by Peter Thiel) won a $140 million privacy lawsuit against the company for publishing a sex-tape excerpt. This will be the first time in its history that Gawker will have an outside owner. It is unclear if the main website, Gawker, will survive under new ownership.