Univision To Pay Nick Denton Monthly Non-Compete

Nick Denton

Gawker Media Group’s new owner, Univision Communications Inc., will pay Gawker founder Nick Denton $16,666 a month for the next two years in exchange for a promise not to work for the gossip site’s rivals.

The Wall Street Journal reports Denton will be paid about $400,000 by Univision, according to a noncompete pact filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

The Spanish-language broadcaster last week won a bankruptcy auction for Gawker with a $135 million bid and then said it was shutting down the site.

The company insisted on the noncompete agreement with Mr. Denton, who earned $500,000 a year at Gawker, as a condition of the sale.

Univison intends to merge the sites Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel and Kotaku into its Fusion Media Group. But the company said it wouldn’t operate gawker.com going forward.

Gawker Media filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June after a Florida jury awarded former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, $140 million.