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On his fifth day at Oxford University, Australian law student Aron D’Souza attended a talk by Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal. Afterwards, D’Souza showed him around campus. As they chatted about Thiel’s business, D’Souza asked him a question: what is the biggest problem you face?
Thiel replied with a litany of problems, but the top of the pile was the unwanted press he was getting from a media outlet called Gawker, which had outed him as gay. Thiel didn’t want the attention of taking Gawker to court, but D’Souza had another, more cost-effective idea: what if Thiel bankrolled someone else’s lawsuit?
They met for dinner in Paris a few months later, where D’Souza presented his plan of attack. The 24-year-old student had never had a serious job but he made a compelling pitch, and he was hired. Thiel went on to wage a proxy war, secretly funding the wrestler Hulk Hogan, who had his own score to settle with Gawker over a sex tape made public. Five years later, Hogan won $140m in damages and Gawker Media filed for bankruptcy.
The story drew great intrigue in the media. At its heart was a mysterious, precocious young lawyer dubbed “Mr A”, who would turn out to be D’Souza. It becameIt became the focus of a Netflix documentary entitled which presented a dark picture of billionaires in cahoots with the Trump administration to strangle media freedom. Hollywood is now making the movie, says D’Souza, with an Oscar winner cast in his role.
