Gawker Media founder and CEO Nick Denton said Wednesday his company's battle with former wrestler Hulk Hogan is far from over.
"I'm not a big professional wrestling fan, but I understand there are many rounds. This was one of those several rounds. There are still a few to go," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box.".
A Florida jury last week found that Gawker was liable for causing harm to Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, after the company posted clips of a sex tape featuring the former wrestler and a friend's wife.
On Tuesday, a jury tacked on another $25 million in punitive damages to the $115 million in compensatory damages it awarded Bollea. Denton is personally liable for $10 million of the punitive damages.
Gawker has said it will appeal the decision. On Thursday, Denton said he would be "perfectly satisfied" to either pay no money or less money. He also said Gawker, which operates seven websites, can stay in business.
Earlier this year, the company raised money from investment firm Columbus Nova.
Denton reiterated Gawker's claim that Bollea had spoken openly about his sex life, and therefore, the sex tape was fair game. He said the bar would be considerably higher to publish a video of a private person engaging in sex in their own home.
"This wasn't a case like this. You had a major celebrity who had talked incessantly about his sex life," he said.
Lawyers for Bollea asserted there is difference between their client's public persona of Hulk Hogan and his private life, and that there was no merit in publishing the actual content of the sex tape.
Denton said he believes the jury wanted to send a message that privacy is important, but he insisted that the jurors also said there needed to be a clearer line about what constitutes privacy under the First Amendment.
In a post on Gawker on Tuesday, Denton claimed that Bollea did not sue his company because he suffered emotional damage. Instead, he said, it was a bid to block Gawker and other media outlets from publishing another tape in which Bollea allegedly used racial slurs.