Terry Bollea, better known to the world as professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, died Thursday at his home in Clearwater, Florida, at the age of 71, TMZ reported, a development that was soon confirmed by WWE. The cause of death was reported as cardiac arrest, with emergency services responding early in the morning after a call from his residence. Hogan is survived by his wife, Sky Daily, and two children, Brooke and Nick, from prior marriages.
Although he was one of professional wrestling’s iconic figures, Hogan may be remembered more for the chill he sent through journalism with an eventful lawsuit in the 2010s backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.
Hogan’s passing closes the chapter on a larger-than-life figure whose impact on the industry and popular culture spanned more than four decades. After making his wrestling debut in 1979, Hogan quickly rose through regional territories before ascending to major wrestling stardom in the mid-1980s. His charisma and signature catchphrases—most notably, “Whatcha gonna do, brother, when Hulkamania runs wild on you?”—made him professional wrestling’s first true global superstar, and a notable crossover star into mainstream entertainment.
With his iconic red-and-yellow ring gear, his habit of shredding his shirt, and his trademark entrance to the song “Real American,” Hulk Hogan became synonymous with WWE’s transformation from a niche pastime into a billion-dollar entertainment juggernaut. He headlined the very first WrestleMania in 1985, helping WWE’s then-chairman Vince McMahon realize his vision of a nationwide phenomenon.
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hogan was the face of the WWE, when he captured a run of world championships and led storylines in era-defining fashion. His character inspired generations of children—“Hulkamaniacs”—but his appeal reached far beyond wrestling. Hogan became a fixture of pop culture, making appearances in movies including Rocky III, Suburban Commando, Mr. Nanny, and TV shows such as Thunder in Paradise. After several years in Hollywood, Hogan returned to wrestling in the late 1990s, reinventing himself as a “heel,” named Hollywood Hogan, in WCW’s New World Order.
He was a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, first inducted individually in 2005 and then as a member of the nWo faction in 2020.
Despite the superhero persona, Hogan’s life was not without controversy and hardship. He endured high-profile personal and legal battles and shifts in public perception. He also played a major role in a lawsuit that changed digital journalism and signaled a new era in right-wing politics.
in 2012, Gawker Media published a brief excerpt from a sex tape featuring Hogan and Heather Clem, the wife of Hogan’s friend, a Floridian radio host with the stage name Bubba the Love Sponge. The video had been filmed secretly and then leaked to Gawker by an anonymous source. Hogan, shocked and outraged by the publication, filed a lawsuit charging Gawker with invasion of privacy, infringement of personality rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The trial took place in Florida in early 2016 and drew widespread attention to the rising tensions between individual privacy rights and freedom of the press in America. After only a few hours of deliberation, the jury ruled in Hogan’s favor, awarding him $115 million in compensatory damages and an additional $25 million in punitive damages, for a total of $140 million. A month after the verdict, Gawker founder Nick Denton told Fortune that he wished he’d “known how litigious Hulk Hogan was.”
The colossal judgment forced Gawker Media to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, even though the parties settled for $31 million. The aftermath included an unprecedented revelation: The lawsuit was financially backed by Peter Thiel, who had personal grievances against Gawker after being outed by the site in a previous article. Up to that point, Thiel was best known as a member of what Fortune dubbed the “PayPal Mafia,” but the Gawker lawsuit was part of his emergence as one of the faces of Silicon Valley’s rightward turn. Both Hogan and Thiel had supported Donald Trump in the recent 2016 presidential election.
Gawker’s bankruptcy marked the end of a prominent, controversial digital outlet known for unfiltered reporting, and Hulk Hogan v. Gawker Media remains one of the most consequential legal battles in recent American media history, fundamentally reshaping ideas around privacy, journalism, and power.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
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