PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel 'bankrolled' Hulk Hogan's legal battle against Gawker, report claims, 'after the site tried to out the tech billionaire as gay in 2007'

A well-known Silicon Valley billionaire businessman is allegedly the investor who backed Hulk Hogan through his legal battle against Gawker Media.

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, is footing the legal bill for the former wrestler who won his suit against Gawker in March, according to Forbes.

It is claimed Thiel backed the legal case against Gawker after the site published an article in 2007 claiming 'Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.' 

At the time, Thiel had not disclosed his sexuality publicly, but has since confirmed that he is gay.

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Peter Thiel (pictured), the co-founder of PayPal, is footing the legal bill for the former wrestler who won his suit against Gawker in March, according to Forbes

Hogan (pictured) won more than $115million after a jury sided with him in his suit against the online news organization. He claimed his privacy was violated in 2012 when it published a sex tape involving him and the wife of an ex-friend

Hogan won more than $115million after a jury sided with him in his suit against the online news organization. 

He claimed his privacy was violated in 2012 when it published a sex tape involving him and the wife of an ex-friend. 

Thiel, who is a co-founder and partner at Founders Fund, played 'a lead role in bankrolling the cases Terry Bollea, a.k. Hogan, brought against New York-based Gawker,' Forbes reported. 

Gawker said in a statement to Huffington Post on Wednesday: 'According to these reports, a board member of Facebook and the Committee to Protect Journalists has been secretly funding a legal campaign against our journalists.

'We trust the appeals court will correct the outsized Florida jury verdict and reaffirm the law that protects a free and critical press, which is more embattled and important than ever.' 

Gawker then correct statement to say the person they are referring to is a 'major funder' of the Committee to Protect Journalists, not a board member.

Gawker founder Nick Denton told the New York Times on Monday that he suspected someone in the Silicon Valley might be financially assisting Hogan.

'If you're a billionaire and you don't like the coverage of you, and you don't particularly want to embroil yourself any further in a public scandal, it's a pretty smart, rational thing to fund other legal cases,' he told the Times. 

'It's unclear how Thiel, who is worth an estimated $2.7billlion, became connected to Hogan or if he is the only financial backer of the legal case against Gawker. 

In addition, it's unknown if Thiel, who is a Donald Trump supporter, will benefit from any of the proceeds that Hogan won, as Gawker is currently appealing the March ruling.  

Thiel and Denton have a complicated history, as Gawker attempted to expose his sexuality in late 2007, before the businessman came out as gay. 

In 2009, Thiel said in an interview with PEHub that Valleywag, a now-defunct Silicon Valley-focused publication owned by Gawker is the 'Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.' 

He said: 'I think they should be described as terrorists, not as writers or reporters

'I don’t understand the psychology of people who would kill themselves and blow up buildings, and I don’t understand people who would spend their lives being angry; it just seems unhealthy.'

Thiel (left) is said to have played 'a lead role in bankrolling the cases... Hogan, brought against New York-based Gawker,' which was founded by Nick Denton (right)

Denton (above) told the New York Times on Monday that he suspected someone in the Silicon Valley might be financially assisting Hogan. Thiel and Denton have a complicated history

Denton told Forbes on Tuesday that he believed financial support for Hogan was coming from Silicon Valley, as ValleyWag spent two years starting in 2006 'exposing the personal and sometimes darker sides' to some of the power players living in the area. 

'We write stories about powerful people in New York, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in New York,' he said. 

'We write stories about powerful people in LA, but there are plenty of outlets writing stories about powerful people in LA. 

'What's unique about Gawker is that we're an internet publication and the tech industry is of particular interest to us. 

'There are powerful people in Silicon Valley and the power of Silicon Valley is a relatively new phenomenon.'  

Hogan's attorney would not comment about the allegation that Thiel financially supported his client.  

The practice of an outside entity helping fund another party's lawsuit is not illegal in the US. 

Secretive third-party financings of lawsuits can put media companies at a disadvantage during litigation, said Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, in an interview Tuesday.

'There might be circumstances in which knowing who your real adversary is or the real party of interest who is making a suit against you may alter one's perception of the case and strategies for defense.' 

It's unclear how Thiel (pictured), who is worth an estimated $2.7billlion, became connected to Hogan or if he is the only financial backer of the legal case against Gawker