Alex Jones faces the possibility that his media platform Infowars could be sold to one of his many liberal enemies, while he begs Elon Musk to save it.
Infowars will be auctioned off to help pay the more than $1 billion he owes to the relatives of Sandy Hook victims for claiming the 2012 tragedy was a hoax.
The auction of the media platform and all its assets will start in November, judge Christopher Lopez in Houston said during a court hearing Tuesday in a blow to Jones.
The auction has already attracted several of those who hate the broadcaster and conspiracy theorist, including Media Matters for America President Angelo Carusone.
The progressive site, which made its name off of posting many of Jones’ most famous rants, is exploring a bid not just for control of the site but for any wild information Infowars hasn’t published in its archives.
Alex Jones faces the possibility that his media platform Infowars could be sold to one of his many liberal enemies, while he begs Elon Musk to save it
Infowars will be auctioned off to help pay the more than $1 billion he owes to the relatives of Sandy Hook victims for claiming the 2012 tragedy was a hoax
‘We are diligently considering this acquisition,’ Carusone told Semafor. ‘As we saw with the Tucker tapes, the archives could contain unbroadcasted material that ends up having real news value – not schadenfreude – but actually useful information.’
Jeff Rotkoff, who runs a liberal super PAC and has recently started an outlet centered on Texas called The Barbed Wire, says he wants in on the bidding, too.
‘We started The Barbed Wire in part to disrupt the constant stream of conspiracies and disinformation from people like Alex Jones and Joe Rogan, and it would be a step towards justice to use the Infowars brand to undo some of the damage they’ve caused,’ Rotkoff said.
Brian Krassenstein, an anti-Trump social media journalist, has taken a crass approach to possibly bidding.
‘I would like to announce that I will be a bidder for infowars when it goes to auction next month. Once I win it, I will call it MissInfoWars and rehire Alex Jones, but make him dress up as “Alexa Jones” and tell fairy tales,’ he wrote on social media.
He later said that he will put in a bid but doesn’t think their budget will allow them to win.
He also has suggested that Infowars’ assets could be bought by his supporters, allowing him to continue hosting his show as an employee under the Infowars brand in their home city of Austin, Texas.
‘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 on a recent show. ‘And they know full well that there are a bunch of patriot buyers, and then the operation can ease on.’
The auction has already attracted several of those who hate the broadcaster and conspiracy theorist
Jones has asked Elon Musk to buy Infowars in recent days, writing: ‘This is a great idea! The ultimate middle finger to the rotting globalist establishment.’
One person who will not be bidding is George Soros, a longtime enemy of Jones and a focus of his many rants, who said he was not interested.
Despite the pending loss of his company, Jones has vowed to continue his talk shows through other means, possibly including a new website and his personal social media accounts.
Jones has made millions of dollars over the years selling dietary supplements, apparel, survival gear, books and other items he promotes on his shows, which air on the internet and dozens of radio stations.
It’s unclear how much money would be raised by selling Infowars and Jones’ assets, and how much money the Sandy Hook families would get.
Jones has about $9 million in personal assets, according to court filings. Free Speech Systems has about $6 million in cash on hand and about $1.2 million worth of inventory, according to previous court testimony.
During two civil trials in Texas and Connecticut, parents and children of many of the victims testified that they were traumatized by Jones’ hoax conspiracies and his followers’ actions.
They said they were harassed and threatened by Jones’ believers, some of whom confronted the grieving families in person saying the shooting never happened and their children never existed. One parent said someone threatened to dig up his dead son’s grave.
Jones has asked Elon Musk to buy Infowars in recent days
Judge Lopez added on Tuesday that he first must change a previous order to make it clear that the trustee overseeing Jones’ personal bankruptcy case controls all the assets of Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems, which is owned 100 percent by Jones.
Jones and his company both filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 – the same year Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits against Jones for his repeatedly calling the 2012 Connecticut school shooting a hoax staged by ‘crisis actors’ to get more gun control legislation passed.
Jones is appealing the civil jury verdicts, citing free speech rights and questioning whether the families proved any connection between his comments, and the people who harassed and threatened the relatives.
He has since acknowledged that the shooting did happen.
The Sandy Hook families who won the Connecticut lawsuit want Jones to lose his personal social media accounts.
Their lawyers further contend that the families should get a chunk of all of Jones’ future earnings to help pay off his more than $1 billion debt.
The rest of Infowars’ assets, including computers, video cameras and other studio equipment, would be sold at a different auction on December 10.
A remaining legal dispute in the bankruptcy case is whether Free Speech Systems owes more than $50 million to another Jones-owned company, PQPR Holdings Limited.
One person who will not be bidding is George Soros, a longtime enemy of Jones and a focus of his many rants, who said he was not interested
Free Speech Systems buys dietary supplements from PQPR to sell on the Infowars website. PQPR said it wasn’t paid for many of the supplements and filed liens.
Sandy Hook lawyers allege the debt is bogus.
If the debt is found to be valid, that could reduce any amount the Sandy Hook families ultimately get from the liquidations.