Alex Jones’ conspiracy empire, Infowars, could live or die depending on who wins an auction for the network that has pushed dangerous falsehoods for decades.
A first-round auction for Infowars closed Wednesday morning as part of a personal bankruptcy plan to pay the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting after Jones spent years falsely claiming the shooting that left 20 kids and six adults dead never happened, and those whose loved ones were killed were actors.
In 2022, Jones lost court cases in Texas and Connecticut after several Sandy Hook families sued him for defamation and won nearly $1.5 billion in damages against him for the harassment they faced as a result of his continued lies.
Instead of a live auction, the sales will happen in a private auction in which the identities of the buyers will not be disclosed. The potential buyers also agreed to nondisclosure agreements in order to receive bid materials.
Along with the Infowars name and website, the auction includes social media accounts, office furniture, gym equipment and product trademarks. The Infowars store, which has made hundreds of millions of dollars over the years selling supplement products, is also in the auction, as are a Winnebago motor home and an armored truck.
Anything not sold during this auction will be auctioned off again in December.
Christopher Murray, a federal court-appointed trustee, will distribute the funds from the auction sale to estate creditors, including Sandy Hook families Jones defamed. Murray did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost, including questions as to why the auction was made private.
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It’s unclear when or if the winning bid or bidders will be announced, but Jones said on his show Wednesday he expects to know by Thursday morning at the latest.
“Even if they rig this, and the good guys don’t get it, well, we’re gonna fight that in court,” he said on Infowars.
Jones added that if Infowars does get shut down, he has already set up a new studio, new websites, and new social media accounts to continue his broadcasts.