The New York Times - following up the story - reported that Thiel has a long history with Gawker, which published an article in 2007 outing him as gay.
"Thiel, who is now open about his sexual orientation, once described the Gawker-owned site Valleywag as "the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda", the paper wrote.
In October 2010, the Californian invested $4 million in Xero's online accounting software through his local capital firm, Valar Ventures.
In 2012 Valar partnered with the Government's NZ Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) to create a $40 million venture capital fund aimed at getting Kiwi tech firms exporting.
Thiel put $15 million into the new fund, while NZVIF and other private investors put in $20 million and $5 million respectively.
In 1998, Thiel co-founded PayPal, an internet service which enables web users to buy goods without revealing their credit card details directly to the seller.
It was bought by internet auction site eBay for US$1.5 billion four years later, and Thiel pocketed US$55 million in the deal.
Forbes said it was unclear how Thiel became connected to Hogan, or whether Thiel, who is now estimated to be worth US$2.7 billion, is the only outside financial backer of the cases against Gawker.
Gawker is currently appealing that ruling.
