Billionaire investor Peter Thiel has reportedly set his eyes on the now-defunct Gawker, an American gossip blog site.

The venture capitalist's desire to obtain the gossip site at first glance appears peculiar, given his current initiatives: Thiel is the President of the hedge fund Clarium Capital, co-founder of the payment service Paypal Inc. (PYPL  ), and a Board member of Facebook (FB  ). But Thiel's desire to own Gawker is likely motivated by the personal history between the billionaire and the website.

Gawker was once a successful blog, reaching a peak of 23 million visitors a month during 2015. Things began to go south, however, after the blog released a sex tape involving American wrestler Terry Gene Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, in 2012. Bollea filed a lawsuit against Gawker, and Thiel stepped in to help fund the litigation. Ultimately, the suit lead to a $140 million judgment against Gawker. Gawker subsequently filed for bankruptcy and was ultimately forced to shutter in August 2016.

Why did Thiel support Bollea's litigation? Thiel had long hated Gawker, which outed him as a homosexual in 2007. Thiel also criticized Valleywag, Gawker's Silicon Valley-focused website, comparing the site to terrorists in 2009. While many felt that Thiel sought to destroy Gawker as retribution, Thiel noted that his war on Gawker was "less about revenge and more about specific deterrence. I saw Gawker pioneer a unique and incredibly damaging way of getting attention by bullying people even when there was no connection with the public interest."

The majority of Gawker's domain names and assets, such as the feminist blog Jezebel and the sports site Deadspin, have been purchased by the media company Univision Holdings Inc. (UVN  ) for $135 million. Gawker itself remains online but is inactive and remains ownerless.

In addition to Thiel's bid, the site is also reviewing bids by other buyers. Kevin Lee, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the marketing firm Didit, has submitted a bid for the site and is reportedly planning to use the site to raise money for charity. Former Gawker employees attempted to raise money through the public-benefit corporation Kickstarter in order to buy the blog, but their goal of $500,000 was not reached.

Some are anxious that if Thiel acquires Gawker, he will delete Gawker articles that remain online. Writers Guild of America Executive Director Lowell Peterson noted that he supports "the trustee's position that that Peter Thiel should not be permitted to buy Gawker. Freedom of expression must be defended, not just from oppressive governments, but also from those who would use their wealth to silence expression they don't like, whether by trying to put media companies out of business or by trying to erase all record of what has already been written."

Gawker will reportedly choose a winner this month. Any buyer will have to be approved through U.S bankruptcy court, and exclusion of Thiel's bid by Gawker may not be permitted if it is higher than other offers.