Alex Jones’ Infowars empire is up for sale, but the conspiracy theorist hopes to stay on the air.
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Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory empire is being auctioned off for parts.But the proceeds will barely chip at the nearly $1.5 billion he owes some Sandy Hook victims’ families.Jones could continue his talk show under a new owner.
Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory empire Infowars will be sold off for parts to pay off a fraction of his massive court judgments — but it likely won’t be the end of the far-right commentator.
In a court hearing on Tuesday, a Texas bankruptcy judge announced that he will approve the auctioning off of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, which Jones fully owns, according to The Associated Press.
As part of the auction, assets of Infowars will be stripped down and sold, including its domain name, social media accounts, lists of subscribers, e-commerce platform, and audio production equipment, ThreeSixty Asset Advisors says on its website.
The auction is a result of Jones agreeing in June to liquidate his assets after both he and Free Speech Systems filed separately for bankruptcy in 2022.
That year, the conspiracy theorist was ordered to pay a total of $1.5 billion to the relatives of the Sandy Hook shooting victims after he was found liable in four defamation lawsuits of repeatedly spreading lies that the deadly 2012 school shooting was a hoax.
The proceeds from the sale of his company and its parts — which could sell for millions of dollars, according to CNN — would barely make a dent in what he owes the families.
But just because Jones will no longer own the company doesn’t necessarily prohibit him from returning to spread conspiracy theories another day. In fact, Jones suggested during his Infowars podcast on Friday that if one of his allies bought the company, he’d consider working with them to continue the broadcasts.
“There’s buyers out there that are patriots that I’d work with,” Jones said on Friday’s show. He repeated this claim throughout the show that “patriot buyers” (aka allies sympathetic to him) could buy the company.
“It’s very cut and dry that the assets of Free Speech Systems, the website, the equipment, the shopping cart, all that, can be sold,” Jones said. “And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.”
He also argued that the government wants to prevent him from continuing his show on the platform.
But, there are no legal prohibitions stopping Jones from continuing to broadcast his show under a new owner, according to NPR. He may, however, be barred from talking about the Sandy Hook massacre based on ongoing negotiations between his team and the victims’ families, NPR reported.
The bankruptcy trustee overseeing Jones’ assets said in court this week that some potential buyers have already expressed interest in getting a piece of Free Speech Systems, NPR reported.
But those could be anyone: allies who want the platform to live on with Alex Jones at the helm or opponents who want to squash it.
Even if it’s not on the Infowars platform itself, Jones is not likely to go quietly.
Jones has promised to continue producing talk shows and content in any way he can, repeatedly telling his Infowars audience during Friday’s show to buy his products and send him money to keep him on the air.
Prospective buyers must place sealed bids on Free Speech Systems and its parts by November 8; any physical assets that don’t sell are scheduled to be auctioned off piecemeal the next month.
Representatives for Alex Jones and Infowars did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, nor did ThreeSixty or a lawyer representing some of the Sandy Hook victims.
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