Journalists and legal scholars have been debating merits of so-called “litigation finance” over the revelation that libertarian billionaire and philanthropist Peter Thiel helped finance an invasion of privacy lawsuit Terry Gene Bollea (Hulk Hogan) filed against the embattled digital publisher Gawker.
The suit, which Bollea won, awarded him $140 million — a sum that Gawker says puts its future in question. Thiel, in an interview with the New York Times, is not sorry:
Thiel is also a donor to a number of causes, from the Committee to Protect Journalists to libertarian efforts like the Seasteading Institute, which promotes the creation of floating cities to get around immigration, tax, and bureaucratic hurdles to free association of individuals.
The boss sat down with Thiel earlier this year for an interview as part of his Conversations series, put out by the Foundation for Constitutional Government. Thiel discusses a wide variety of topics: China and globalization, whether innovation is slowing, risk taking, and artificial intelligence.
The interview, which runs about 1:30, can be seen below:
