Los Angeles (Oniony Smelling News Services) – Gawker may have a new bidder when its media assets go on sale next week. Steemit 101 e-book co-author Tom Janowicz, better known as 
Gawker is in bankruptcy after being sued for $140 million by wrestler Hulk Hogan following the release of his sex tape. It later came to light that PayPal founder and billionaire Peter Thiel was financing many of the lawsuits against Gawker, reportedly due to his anger at the site for having outed him several years ago.
The chapter 11 bankruptcy will involve an auction sale of the company’s assets. While no bids have been made public, Ziff Davis LLC reportedly has been in previous negotiations for an acquisition of Gawker at a price tag of $90 million to $100 million.
Ziff Davis, Univision Holdings, Inc., and Penske Media Corp. are among the names rumored to be making bids for Gawker Media. There may be more than one dozen bids.
Donkeypong says he thinks Gawker’s assets can be had for a lot less than $90 million.
“First, they need to settle with Hulk Hogan and I understand that a deal is close,” he explained. “They have listed assets of $90-100 million with the bankruptcy court, presumably including their offices. Hulk will take the real estate, the brand names, anything tangible, and that should make him go away. So there really wouldn’t be any money left over after a settlement and sale.”
“I don’t want buildings anyway,” said Donkeypong, “new media has moved way beyond that brick and mortar stuff. Beyond that, there is only one asset: the people. Of course, employees are free to leave at any time. But I’d like to think they would stick around after seeing my offer: $1 Steem Dollar and an opportunity bring their talents to the Steemit platform.”
Steemit is a decentralized social media site that uses the blockchain. It offers writers and other content creators the ability to post their material and receive rewards from other users’ upvotes. Users are paid also for voting and commenting on content. The site has experienced unprecedented growth in recent weeks, recently becoming one of the top 10,000 visited sites in the United States after just being launched in the spring of this year.
Donkeypong says there is one caveat for Gawker’s writers and content creators. He notes that a recent day’s reading of the site included such headlines as “Please Stop Asking for Shrek Nudes” and “Signs You Are Dating a Fox News Spy.” Gawker and its companion sites have long been known for an irreverent brand of journalism in a 14-year run as one of the largest independent news sources on the Internet.
“Steemit is a positive place,” explained Donkeypong. “You don’t get many upvotes for slandering people or degrading them. This is a community, first and foremost. But it’s a community that thrives on fresh, original content. Steemit could use some snappy headline writers and well-trained investigative journalists who post their news and commentary here first.”
“Where else can you go to post whatever you want, be paid directly in a few hours’ time if people like it, and not be subject to the control of an editorial director or a controlling moderator? Steemit is THE destination for anyone writing news and commentary these days,” he added.
Donkeypong said that if he bids, he plans to offer $1 (payable in the Steem Dollars cryptocurrency token) for the Gawker assets, contingent on a settlement with Hulk Hogan for the cost of the media site’s tangible assets. He would promise the Gawker employees no jobs, but endless opportunities on the blockchain-based social media site. And he would offer to help mentor them in his writers’ groups, since he spends more time these days on mentoring than on posting.
“They would start with a neutral reputation score like everyone else,” he explained, “but through hard work, perseverance, and developing connections with other members of the Steemit community, these writers, journalists, bloggers, and content creators would have as good of a chance as anyone at getting upvotes and rewards. Over time, they could build reputations, grow their follower lists, and hopefully start earning serious rewards. Steemit gives everyone a chance to succeed.”
Donkeypong wishes to clarify that he is not launching a bid on behalf of the Steem team. He is merely a user of the site. Every user has the power to invite others to join and any user can spend his own money as he sees fit.
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