Gawker chief Nick Denton is dumping properties left and right. Some internet pundits say the divestitures are a way to make his blog business seem more legitimate. Perhaps, but it also may be necessary for Gawker’s survival in the wake of so much bad will following their exploits at recent conferences like CES.

The properties being divested are Wonkette, Gridskipper and Idolator. Losing those blogs will leave Denton with 12 sites – hardly a blog pauper. Gawker has come under fire for everything from payment of its bloggers, to pranks at CES and issues with FaceBook. In spite of these problems, Denton has continued to add new blogs to his roster, like newer science fiction blog io9.

Each of the three blogs will find a separate new home. Wonkette current editor, Ken Layne, is taking the reigns of Wonkette and BlogAds. Idolator is being grabbed up by Buzznet, who seemed to be on an acquisition spree this weekend. Lockhart Steele, former Gawker editor and current owner of blog network Curbed, will absorb Gridskipper into his network.

Rumor has it that the divestitures are a fire sale for Denton, who seems to be practically giving them away. With any major blog shakeup comes blog change, and the Gawker blogs are no exception. Each new blog owner has said they “hope” to keep the line up of blog leads, at least, but that is hardly a promise of job security. Even though the blogs (or may not) have a staff shake up, and may be pretty much given away, Denton still stands to turn a profit on earnout clauses if they do well in their new homes.

Related:

Entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 10:36 am under Uncategorized.

Read more entries by Leslie Poston.
Stumble It!