REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Peter Thiel had the help of a middleman and mastermind in his efforts to take down Gawker, according to BuzzFeed News. Thiel’s legal approach to bankroll Hulk Hogan’s legal fees in his battle with the gossip site was the brainchild of an Oxford-educated Australian man named Aron D’Souza, also known as “Mr. A.” D’Souza not only advised Thiel into taking the legal route, but he also found the lawyer and served as an intermediary between the Silicon Valley star and the case itself. Once Gawker posted the Hulk Hogan sex tape, both D’Souza and celebrity lawyer Charles Harder took the opportunity and filed a case against the site. Harder did not meet Thiel until the trial, and was apparently unaware that he was paying Hogan’s legal fees--reportedly made possible by the use of D’Souza as a intermediary. Thiel has previously admitted to spending around $10 million on the case. In late 2016, Thiel committed $45 million to D’Souza’s Melbourne-based financial management company Sargon Capital.