NICK DENTON
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, GAWKER MEDIA Nick Denton is taking the media industry by storm. Ten years ago, Nick Denton came up with the idea of capturing gossip that journalists would “secretly” tell one another from his apartment and his estimated net worth is a whopping $320 million dollars. It appears that most American’s spend most of their past time vicariously living through the short-comings and unfortunate mishaps of others. This is especially true when it comes to entertainers and athletics. Superstars are constantly bombarded by the media and paparazzi for our viewing pleasuring to find out the intricate details of their private lives. Reality shows like “Keeping up with the Kardashians” (a number one rated show on television) is defiantly keeping us in from of our television sets. Gawker.com has a net worth of $100 million and Gawker Media has been valued at somewhere around $300 – $600 million. Not bad for a “Gay” guy from England who started out trying to just be a thorn in celebrity’s side. But public opinion is what sends a blogger’s site to the impressive levels to acquire sponsorship and advertising. But Nick Denton isn’t your typical media mogul. Despite Nick Denton’s sexual orientation he continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the world of media. The majority of the country supports same-sex marriage, and among people 18 to 29 years old, a demographic that makes up the bulk of Gawker’s audience, polls show that 70 percent believe that gay marriage should be legal. When the Gossip Merchant was asked about his lifestyle he said that his sexual orientation isn’t relevant to his success and that it’s a private matter.
A NEW MEDIA OUTLET TAKING THE NETWORKS BY STORM
Gawker is a blog created by Nick Denton and based in the big Apple that proudly considers itself as “the source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip”. It solely focuses on celebrities and the media industry. GAWKER MEDIA The Gawker Media Group founded in 2002 by Nick Denton, now produces eight original brands with 47,000,000 monthly US Readers, 2.5-million Facebook fans and over 3-million twitter followers. But Nick Denton didn’t just up and stumble upon his success before this, Nick founded two internet ventures in the late 1990s which were sold. Among other things, Nick is said to be half-Hungarian and he began his career as a reporter for the Economist and the Financial Times during the fall of the communism in Eastern Europe. So for you who may have been thinking that success comes over night, think again. “But all that glitters ain’t gold”. For instance, in February 2011 the Gawker sites underwent a major design change which was met with serious backlash from the users. Sometimes change can be hard. Especially, in a market where you can be finished at the click of a mouse; or the lack thereof. It appears the users had become accustomed to the old system and due to a lot of technical glitches with the new site it is going to be an eventful year for Gawker and it’s shareholders. But when it rains it pours, earlier this year Tarantino filed a copyrights law suit against Gawker Media for the distribution of a 146 page script called, ” The Hateful Eight”. It seems that Nick and his people may have crossed the line this time by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire Screenplay illegally.” All and all I applaud his efforts but with the strict copyright laws in place it may be an uphill battle for Nick and Gawker Media to pull themselves out of the hole they’ve managed to dig for themselves. One thing is for sure, he’s not hurting for money. But you know what they say, “Moe money, moe problems!” This is Maestro! Article written by Maestro February 16, 2014, Revised February 16, 2014
STREET JUSTICE 