Name: Conspiracy
ISBN: 9780735217645

Conspiracy

"In 2007, a short blog post on Valleywag, the Silicon Valley-vertical of Gawker Media, outed PayPal founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel as gay. Thiel's sexuality had been known to close friends and family, but he didn't consider himself a public figure, and believed the information was private. For years, Thiel searched for a solution to what he'd come to call the 'Gawker Problem.' When an unmarked envelope delivered an illegally recorded sex tape of Hulk Hogan with his best friend's wife, Gawker had seen the chance for millions of page views and to say the things that others were afraid to say. Thiel saw their publication of the tape as the opportunity he was looking for. He would come to pit Hogan against Gawker in a multi-year proxy war through the Florida legal system, while Gawker remained confidently convinced they would prevail as they had over so many other lawsuits --until it was too late. The verdict would stun the world and so would Peter's ultimate unmasking as the man who had set it all in motion. Why had he done this? How had no one discovered it? What would this mean for the First Amendment? For privacy? For culture?"--Publisher's website.

What Hacker News says

chriscappuccioJul 2022

Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday is the definitive account of this story. It's very well written and full of intrigue. A great book, one of the best I've read in years.

The only part of the book that seems out of place is near the end, where you see Holiday's speculation on Thiel's (who Holiday clearly admires) association with Trump (who Holiday clearly despises.) He simply can't understand why Thiel would associate with Trump at all.

https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Peter-Gawker-Anatomy-Intri...

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vmurthyJul 2021

The blog post doesn't quite do justice as much as the book "Conspiracy" by Ryan Holiday does. Do read it to understand how it died.

[0]https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36681909-conspiracy

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donpottDec 2020

The book "Conspiracy: A True Story of Power, Sex, and a Billionaire's Secret Plot to Destroy a Media Empire" by Ryan Holiday was very interesting, and it´s a detailed look into this whole case.

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jger15Dec 2018

Really enjoyed:

- 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy - Hamilton Helmer

- American Wolf - Nate Blakeslee

- Atomic Habits - James Clear

- But What If We're Wrong - Chuck Klosterman

- Conspiracy - Ryan Holiday

- The Courage To Be Disliked - Ichiro Kishimi

- Elements of Fiction: Characters & Viewpoint - Orson Scott Card

- The Elephant In The Brain - Robin Hanson & Kevin Simler

- Good Strategy Bad Strategy - Richard Rumelt