MEDIA

Gawker settles with Hogan for $31 million

The shell of Gawker has settled with Hulk Hogan for $31 million, ending a years-long fight that led to the media company’s bankruptcy, the shutdown of Gawker.com and the sale of Gawker’s other sites to Spanish-language broadcaster Univision.

The invasion-of-privacy case, which revolved around a sex tape of Hogan posted on Gawker.com, resulted in a $140 million verdict won by the former professional wrestler in a Florida court. It became even more notorious when it emerged that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel had bankrolled the suit. Thiel was outed as gay by a Gawker-owned website in 2007.

Under the settlement, Hogan will get $31 million and 45 percent of the proceeds from potential sale of Gawker.com, said Elizabeth Traub, a spokeswoman for Hogan’s lawyer, David Houston.

Gawker founder Nick Denton said in a blog post Wednesday that he was confident that an appeals court would have reduced the $140 million verdict, but “an all-out war with Thiel would have cost too much, and hurt too many people, and there was no end in sight.”

— Bloomberg News

AUTO INDUSTRY

Fuel economy reaches record high in U.S.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that the average fuel economy of 2015 model-year vehicles increased 0.5 mile per gallon to a record high of 24.8 miles per gallon.

Mazda had the highest average fuel economy of 29.6 miles per gallon, the EPA said. Fiat Chrysler had the lowest, at 20.8. Most manufacturers improved over 2014, but General Motors and Toyota had lower fuel economy in 2015 because they produced more trucks.

Weight loss is one reason fuel economy is increasing. Vehicles were an average of 25 pounds lighter in the 2015 model year than in the year before because automakers are using lighter materials such as aluminum and high-strength steel. Vehicle weight is expected to drop another 50 pounds in 2016, the agency said.

Trucks had the biggest weight declines in 2015, losing an average of 110 pounds, the EPA said. Car weights stayed flat from the prior year.

New engine and transmission technology also is making vehicles more efficient, EPA official Christopher Grundler said.

— Associated Press

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