Ryan Holiday

In 2016, one of the giants of modern journalism fell: Gawker Media, infamous for saying what other outlets wouldn't say, was sued for publishing Hulk Hogan's sex tape, lost the case and went bust. After countless other lawsuits it seemed that Gawker had finally run out of luck. But luck had nothing to do with it. Peter Thiel, PayPal founder and billionaire investor, had masterminded the whole thing. Still furious at an article that had outed him ten years previously, and increasingly disgusted at Gawker's unscrupulous reporting methods, Thiel had spent nearly a decade meticulously plotting a conspiracy that would lead to the demise of Gawker and its founder, Nick Denton. After a multi-year proxy war through the Florida legal system, the settlement of $140million in favour of Hogan ended it. The verdict would stun the world and so would Peter's ultimate unmasking as the man who had set it all in motion. Why had he done this? How had no one discovered it? What would this mean--for free speech? For privacy? For culture? In Holiday's masterful telling of this nearly unbelievable conspiracy, informed by exclusive interviews with all the key players, this case transcends the narrative of how one billionaire took down a media empire or the current state of the free press. It's a study in power, strategy, and one of the most wildly ambitious - and successful - secret plots in recent memory.

A True Story of Power, Sex, and a Billionaire's Secret Plot to Destroy a Media Empire

Conspiracy

An NPR Book Concierge Best Book of 2018! A stunning story about how power works in the modern age--the book the New York Times called "one helluva page-turner" and The Sunday Times of London celebrated as "riveting...an astonishing modern media conspiracy that is a fantastic read." Pick up the book everyone is talking about. In 2007, a short blogpost on Valleywag, the Silicon Valley-vertical of Gawker Media, outed PayPal founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel as gay. Thiel's sexuality had been known to close friends and family, but he didn't consider himself a public figure, and believed the information was private. This post would be the casus belli for a meticulously plotted conspiracy that would end nearly a decade later with a $140 million dollar judgment against Gawker, its bankruptcy and with Nick Denton, Gawker's CEO and founder, out of a job. Only later would the world learn that Gawker's demise was not incidental--it had been masterminded by Thiel. For years, Thiel had searched endlessly for a solution to what he'd come to call the "Gawker Problem." When an unmarked envelope delivered an illegally recorded sex tape of Hogan with his best friend's wife, Gawker had seen the chance for millions of pageviews and to say the things that others were afraid to say. Thiel saw their publication of the tape as the opportunity he was looking for. He would come to pit Hogan against Gawker in a multi-year proxy war through the Florida legal system, while Gawker remained confidently convinced they would prevail as they had over so many other lawsuit--until it was too late. The verdict would stun the world and so would Peter's ultimate unmasking as the man who had set it all in motion. Why had he done this? How had no one discovered it? What would this mean--for the First Amendment? For privacy? For culture? In Holiday's masterful telling of this nearly unbelievable conspiracy, informed by interviews with all the key players, this case transcends the narrative of how one billionaire took down a media empire or the current state of the free press. It's a study in power, strategy, and one of the most wildly ambitious--and successful--secret plots in recent memory. Some will cheer Gawker's destruction and others will lament it, but after reading these pages--and seeing the access the author was given--no one will deny that there is something ruthless and brilliant about Peter Thiel's shocking attempt to shake up the world.

Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue

Niels Andersen

Super interesting subject matter, but a bit long winded with a few too many classical history analogies. It makes the book feel like a slow and frustrating read. It feels like much more could have come from the direct access the writer has had to the main characters in this whole drama.

Bouke van der Bijl

I really enjoyed this book as a mix of political intrigue, references to past thinkers and a sobering discussion of whether one man should have the power to crush a journalistic publication, no matter how scummy it might be. The last section filled me with hope that we can all enact real change in the world, no matter how small or meaningful it might be to some.

Ivan Vega

I felt the first half of the book had too many words. Dragged on too much with bits on the history of conspiracies and other stuff, with no real direction. It could have been interesting had not the info been too light.

Second half talks a lot more about the actual subject, the people involved, their thoughts and reasoning. Almost 4 stars for me.

luis martins

Unnecessarily verbose but the story is well worth it

Adam

As someone who grew up in Pinellas County Florida, watching Hulk Hogan, spending a lot of time online during a time when Gawker Media sites were wildly popular and following Peter Thiel's career (and reading his book), every bit of this book was oddly familiar to me.

Conspiracy is a story about a lawsuit. That lawsuit is a claim by Hulk Hogan against Gawker media after they published a sex tape made without the wrestlers' permission. The lawsuit seemed like David vs Goliath, but in actuality, Hogan had the full backing by a billionaire to keep the lawsuit going. 

I read Gawker back when it was running - usually when a scandalous story was linked to on Digg. This book turned that history on its head, causing me to realize just what I was supporting with those pageviews.

Although I don't back Thiel either. As a prominent Trump supporter, he lost all credibility with me as someone fighting against bullies.

Even with a cast of questionable characters, this story reads like a real-life version of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Hemanth Soni

Jannis M

Taylor Murphy

Heiki Riesenkampf

Misha

Zack Apira

Charlotte Dann

An NPR Book Concierge Best Book of 2018! A Sunday Times of London Pick of the Paperbacks A stunning story about how power works in the modern age--the book the New York Times called "one helluva page-turner" and The Sunday Times of London celebrated as "riveting...an astonishing modern media conspiracy that is a fantastic read." Pick up the book everyone is talking about. In 2007, a short blogpost on Valleywag, the Silicon Valley-vertical of Gawker Media, outed PayPal founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel as gay. Thiel's sexuality had been known to close friends and family, but he didn't consider himself a public figure, and believed the information was private. This post would be the casus belli for a meticulously plotted conspiracy that would end nearly a decade later with a $140 million dollar judgment against Gawker, its bankruptcy and with Nick Denton, Gawker's CEO and founder, out of a job. Only later would the world learn that Gawker's demise was not incidental--it had been masterminded by Thiel. For years, Thiel had searched endlessly for a solution to what he'd come to call the "Gawker Problem." When an unmarked envelope delivered an illegally recorded sex tape of Hogan with his best friend's wife, Gawker had seen the chance for millions of pageviews and to say the things that others were afraid to say. Thiel saw their publication of the tape as the opportunity he was looking for. He would come to pit Hogan against Gawker in a multi-year proxy war through the Florida legal system, while Gawker remained confidently convinced they would prevail as they had over so many other lawsuit--until it was too late. The verdict would stun the world and so would Peter's ultimate unmasking as the man who had set it all in motion. Why had he done this? How had no one discovered it? What would this mean--for the First Amendment? For privacy? For culture? In Holiday's masterful telling of this nearly unbelievable conspiracy, informed by interviews with all the key players, this case transcends the narrative of how one billionaire took down a media empire or the current state of the free press. It's a study in power, strategy, and one of the most wildly ambitious--and successful--secret plots in recent memory. Some will cheer Gawker's destruction and others will lament it, but after reading these pages--and seeing the access the author was given--no one will deny that there is something ruthless and brilliant about Peter Thiel's shocking attempt to shake up the world.

Conspiracy A True Story of Power, Sex, and a Billionaire's Secret Plot to Destroy a Media Empire

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