Topline
Alex Jones must sell his personal assets to help pay the nearly $1.5 billion he owes the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, according to a Friday ruling, though the fate of his business—and his inflammatory Infowars franchise—hangs in the balance as a separate bankruptcy case continues.
Jones filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay the families $1.5 billion in damages.
Key Facts
A Texas jury ordered Jones to pay the families of two Sandy Hook victims $49.3 million in damages in August 2022, two months before a Connecticut jury awarded $965 million to 15 plaintiffs, including an FBI agent who responded to the shooting, before later adding $473 million in attorney fees.
Jones had said in April 2022 he was “totally maxed out” financially, after three of his companies—Infowars, Prison Planet TV and IW Health—filed for bankruptcy, according to the Texas Tribune.
Jones filed for bankruptcy in December 2022, estimating his assets to be worth between $1 million and $10 million, though his latest financial statements indicate he has at least $9 million in assets, and forensic economist Bernard Pettingill Jr.—who testified during one of Jones’ defamation trials—estimated Jones is worth up to $270 million.
Forbes found five Texas-based homes linked to Jones collectively worth $7.5 million in 2022, though ownership for one of those properties—valued at $3.5 million—was reportedly transferred to his wife Erika Wulff.
In November, the Sandy Hook families proposed Jones settle his debt by paying a minimum of $85 million over 10 years, though Jones proposed paying a minimum $55 million over 10 years, in addition to all of his company’s disposable income, half of Jones’ income for five years and a quarter of his income for an additional five years.
The Sandy Hook families turned down Jones’ proposal and requested Jones and his company liquidate their assets to pay his debt, according to a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Free Speech Systems—the parent company—filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 after reporting $79 million in debt, and reported $4 million in cash on hand in April.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
News Peg
Judge Christopher Lopez approved the liquidation of Jones’ personal assets to pay the Sandy Hook families on Friday. The ruling allows a trustee to oversee and sell Jones’ assets following a request from the families, which alleged Jones was diverting his assets from Free Speech Systems to fund future business operations.
What To Watch For
Free Speech Systems’ request to convert its bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation has not been approved. A timeline for a decision has not been set, according to NBC News.
Can Alex Jones Continue To Broadcast?
It is not immediately clear whether Infowars will continue broadcasting after Jones’ liquidation was approved, though he reportedly said Friday: “This is probably the end of Infowars here, very, very soon. If not today, in the next few weeks or months.”
What Did Alex Jones Say About Sandy Hook?
Jones shared conspiracy theories hours after the Sandy Hook shooting took place—saying he believed “this is staged”—though he continued spreading false claims for years. He claimed the U.S. government “stages these things to get our guns,” saying he had warned about “getting ready for big mass shootings” for months, “and then magically, it happens.” He said parents whose children died in the shooting would be laughing, “and then they walk over to the camera and go ‘boo hoo hoo,’” later claiming there were “photos of kids that are still alive they said died.”
Key Background
In 2012, 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, were killed in a shooting that Jones claimed on his InfoWars show to be a hoax. Jones has said he would be unable to pay the nearly $1.5 billion in damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims, saying the rulings were “hilarious.”
