Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars show is likely to be shut down within a few months, after a federal bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday that plans to sell off the assets of Jones’ media company, Free Speech Systems, can move forward.
Net proceeds from any sales will go to Sandy Hook families who won some $1.5 billion in damages from Jones for spreading lies that the 2012 school shooting never happened. Some of Jones’ followers harassed and threatened the families for years.
Attorneys for a group of the families called Tuesday’s decision “a significant step forward” toward a “fair and equitable” resolution for all of the families.
“FSS will now be sold at auction, meaning Alex Jones will no longer own or control the company he built,” said attorney Chris Mattei. “This brings the families closer to their goal of holding him accountable for the harm he has caused."
A court-appointed trustee for Jones’ personal bankruptcy case has already begun the process of auctioning off the components of Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars. Listed for sale is everything from production equipment to domain names and the Infowars vitamin and supplement online store.
The bankruptcy trustee, Christopher Murray, said in court that several parties have already expressed interest in buying FSS’s assets, including specifically Jones’ X.com account. The sale process starts with sealed bids, and then open auctions are set for Nov. 13 and Dec. 10 if needed. The bidders are unknown and could be anyone from another vitamin and supplement seller, to an entity trying to “catch and kill” the Infowars brand, or one that wants it to live on.
The fact that there’s been interest in Jones intellectual property assets, including his social media accounts, might mean the latter is more likely.
“What that suggests to me is that the highest monetary bidders are going to be entities who want to take this brand and run with it in some way,” says University of Florida bankruptcy law professor Chris Hampson. That would mean someone “in the right wing media ecosystem that would have a ready-made audience for them.”
Legally, Jones would be free to continue working for a new entity, but talks are continuing between Jones’ team and some of the Sandy Hook families seeking a deal that would bar Jones from continuing to speak about the school shooting.
A U.S. Justice Department lawyer — acting as a kind of bankruptcy watchdog — had tried to stop the sale, arguing that the bankruptcy trustee appointed in Jones’ personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy has no authority to sell off FSS’s individual assets since Jones’ company is no longer in bankruptcy and the company’s assets are “not the property of the Jones estate.” But U.S. bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected those arguments Tuesday, saying he would clarify his order so the sale can go ahead as planned.
But as Hampson puts it, the court “has saved some big fights for later.”
That includes the fight over Jones’ “RealAlexJones” X.com account. Jones’ attorneys argue that’s “the exclusive property of Jones’ natural person” and cannot be sold. Doing so, they argue, would violate their client’s right to publicity, his privacy rights and would amount to “involuntary servitude” under the 13th Amendment.
Meantime, the Sandy Hook families remain divided about how any proceeds should be distributed. But no matter how they slice it, court filings suggest the total payout will be under $8 million, a mere fraction of the $1.5 billion they’re owed.
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