Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones testifying at a defamation case in 2022. Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media/AP
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones started the process of liquidating his assets on Friday, taking the initial steps toward paying the $1.5 billion he owes families of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. Jones runs the popular Infowars media platform, where he repeatedly described the shooting, which killed 20 first-grade students and six teachers, as a “hoax.” Families of victims filed defamation suits against Jones and Infowars, and while Jones eventually conceded in court that the shooting was real, it was too late to save him from legal action. Courts in Texas and Connecticut awarded the families massive damages.
In an effort to avoid payment, Jones and several of his companies declared bankruptcy, and Jones insisted he could never pay the damages.
“I don’t have any money,” Jones said after the billion-dollar judgment. “So, it’s all a big joke.”
But Jones changed his tune on Friday, when his attorneys signaled in court that he is starting the process of liquidating his assets. All told, Jones’ assets could yield as much as $15 million, a relative drop in the bucket toward the full total he owes victims’ families. After splitting the sum and paying administrative and legal fees, the families may not walk away with much money, but they could end up in control of Jones’ broadcast network, website, and social media accounts. That would not only be a financial blow to the conspiracy theorist, but a serious disruption to his operations.
Jones has made much of his wealth from advertisers on the Infowars network, which relies heavily on online sellers of health supplements and pills that claim to help prostates function better.
Last weekend, in a lengthy broadcast to fans, a sobbing Jones declared that Infowars would be shut down within the month. Jones said on his broadcast the reason for the shutdown was “a made-up kangaroo court debt.”
