Sure, they were sued for publishing someone else's sex tape.
But the reason they were put out of business - rather than reaching a settlement or paying out from insurance - is because Peter Thiel had a (arguably justifiable) grudge against them.
But that's not a lesson that's very valuable. What is valuable though is to learn that it requires money to win over media. Who knows how many other peoples lives have been destroyed by not being able to afford taking media to court.
Thats relevant, whether Thiel had a grudge is not important many people have grudges and take other people to court over it.
In an alternative perspective, for once the big company couldn't force the victim into a limited settlement through the threat of exhausting their finances in a legal battle.
The fact that judgments of such high amounts can happen is a general issue though, and they seem to serve as a questionable replacement for punishment that maybe should be the domain of criminal cases.
Most people (journalists excepted) are OK with taking down a company for publishing someone else's sex tape without their permission. Aren't you?