It’s been almost 12 years since the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took the lives of 26 people (20 of them children) in Newton, Connecticut. While Alex Jones, a well-known right-wing commentator and owner of Infowars, has since taken back his comments about the incident being a hoax, he still owes the families of the victims over $1 billion in personal damages after they took legal action against him for emotional distress and defamation. Despite the controversy surrounding his name, “Jones and other right-wing commentators once on the fringe have catapulted in popularity as many people have moved away from traditional news sources,” the Associated Press notes. Thanks to those who still support him, the 50-year-old has made millions from his radio and internet shows, plus the sale of nutritional supplements, survival gear, clothing and other merchandise, keeping him afloat in tense times. Two years after filing for bankruptcy, Jones stands to lose the company he’s spent 25 years building in the upcoming Infowars auction, the proceeds from which will help pay off his debt.
Why Is Alex Jones Bankrupt?
Alex Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in late 2022 after Sandy Hook families were awarded nearly $1.5B in damages. Their lawsuit came following his repeated allegations that the 2012 school shooting was a “hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control.” Besides slowing down their healing process, Jones’ comments led his followers to send threats to the victims’ parents; as of November 2024, they haven’t received any money from the Infowars owner or his company, though he did acknowledge the shooting was real. “From the beginning, the Connecticut families have sought to hold Jones fully accountable for his lies and to protect other families from him,” attorney Christopher Mattei said on behalf of his clients following the latest update on their case.
Jones is now facing a court-ordered auction of company assets to pay his bills, including everything from the desk where he records content to Infowars’ name, video archive, social media accounts and product trademarks to an armored truck and video cameras. As of writing, the Texas native’s personal social media accounts are not for sale (he has over three million followers on Twitter/X), although court proceedings about whether these should be auctioned too are pending. Outside of the Infowars auction, many of Jones’ personal assets are also being liquidated. “Stripping Jones of the corrupt business he used to attack the families while poisoning the minds of his listeners is an important measure of justice,” Mattei’s statement continued. It’s unclear how much the upcoming sale is expected to bring in, but court documents list the radio host’s Free Speech Systems company as having a total property and holdings value of $18M.
Who Will Buy Infowars?
There’s much debate about what’s next for Alex Jones following the Infowars auction – both his competitors and supporters are interested in buying the company, though they have vastly different ideas about how they would use it. Roger Stone, an ally of Jones and President-elect Donald Trump, would let his friend keep Infowars as is should be buy it. “I understand the importance of Infowars as a beacon of the truth, as a beacon of truthful information. And therefore, I would like to do whatever I possibly can to ensure, if possible, that Infowars survives,” Stone said on the show in September. The father of one seems confident this will be the outcome, but he’s been preparing new websites and social media accounts in case recently. Elsewhere online, people have suggested that Elon Musk come forward and buy Infowars after his Twitter/X takeover; while Jones is behind the idea, the South African hasn’t publicly acknowledged the discourse.
As for those hoping to silence Jones, such as officials for The Barbed Wire and Media Matters for America, they would turn his platform into a news site debunking conspiracy theories or a parody platform as an act of revenge. The AP notes that the deadline to submit bids and nondisclosure agreements on Infowars assets was Friday (Nov. 8) afternoon. NDA’s are used to “maximize bid amounts while preventing bidders from talking to each other and driving down the offers”; the trustee on Jones’ case noted in court documents that “the procedures for the Infowars auction were designed to attract the highest possible bids.” After the review process, qualified prospective buyers will be invited to a live auction that might see multiple bidding rounds on Wednesday (Nov. 13). Anything unsold will be auctioned at another event on Dec. 10.
Even if Jones loses Infowars, Melissa Zimdars, an associate professor of communication and media at Merrimack College in Massachusetts believes it won’t be hard for him to rebuild. “As long as there is an audience hungry for his content – and there is – he’ll be able to utilize X and various fringe social media platforms,” she told AP.
