The revelation that Thiel paid Hogan's lawyers-to the tune of about $10 million-has transformed that discussion. The most damaging lawsuit-an invasion-of-privacy case revolving around a sex tape of the wrestler Hulk Hogan (real name, Terry Bollea)-recently resulted in a $140 million jury award and a national debate on the rights of celebrities versus the rights of a publication to disseminate what it considers to be newsworthy. Towering over them all: a 12-story banner extolling HBO's Silicon Valley, which lampoons the culture and excesses of America's technology industry.Īnd lording over that advertisement: the Hollywood Hills mansion of billionaire Peter Thiel, an early Facebook investor who also inspired one of the HBO show's most incisive characters, Peter Gregory, a mix of awkward eccentricity and reserved ruthlessness.Īs the past few weeks have shown, the real Thiel is even more eccentric and ruthless than his fictional alter ego.Īs FORBES revealed in late May, Thiel is the clandestine financier of numerous lawsuits targeting Gawker Media, the New York-based company whose biting style of journalism has grated on the egos and sullied the reputations of some of the world's most powerful people. Hollywood's elite driving down Sunset Boulevard are first beckoned to support Netflix's Jessica Jones. It's voting season for the Emmy Awards, which means that electioneering in the form of billboards rising into the haze dominates the Los Angeles skyline.
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