Company linked to Alex Jones doubles offer to buy Infowars after failed bankruptcy auction

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A company linked to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is now offering more than $7 million to buy his Infowars platforms, more than double what it proposed when it lost to satirical news outlet The Onion in a bankruptcy auction that was later overturned by a judge and attorney in the case, the case said Monday.

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First United American Companies, which operates a website in Jones’ name that sells nutritional supplements, made the new offer even though there was no formal request to do so, Joshua Wolfscholl, the trustee’s attorney overseeing Jones’ bankruptcy, told a bankruptcy court judge. At a brief hearing in Houston.

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Wolfshohl said the trustee also expects a new offer soon from The Onion’s parent company, Chicago-based Global Tetrahedron.

The sale of Infowars is part of Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, which he filed in late 2022 after he was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas brought by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut. Jones has repeatedly described the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six teachers as a hoax orchestrated by actors aimed at increasing gun control.

Most of the proceeds from the Infowars sale, as well as from many of Jones’ personal assets being sold, will go to the Sandy Hook families to help satisfy the defamation judgments. Some of the proceeds will go to Jones’ other creditors.

The future of Infowars, which is based in Jones’ hometown of Austin, Texas, remains up in the air after the failed auction, and it remains unclear how the sale of its assets will proceed. The trustee, Christopher Murray, will evaluate the new proposals and decide what to do next, Wolfscholl said.

“I don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like,” Wolfscholl said. “But I think we’ll go back to court and say, ‘Judge, this is what we have. Let’s talk about the sale, the one your Honor is comfortable with, perhaps through auction.’”

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Representatives for The Onion and First American United did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez canceled the auction and rejected the sale of Infowars to The Onion in December, saying the bidding process was flawed and non-transparent and did not raise enough money for creditors. He also said there’s a lot of confusion about The Onion’s offer and its actual value. The Onion and First United American were the only exhibitors.

Global Tetrahedron made a $1.75 million cash offer with plans to fire Jones and relaunch Infowars in January as a spoof. The offer also included a deal with several Sandy Hook families to forfeit $750,000 in auction proceeds and give them to other creditors.

First United American offered $3.5 million in cash and was expected to allow Jones to remain at Infowars. Despite The Onion’s low cash offer, the trustee chose him as the auction winner, saying his bid would result in more money for creditors.

Jones and First United American alleged fraud and collusion in the bidding process, but Lopez said there was no wrongdoing.

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Also since the auction, the Sandy Hook families that won more than $1.4 billion in the Connecticut lawsuit and those that received about $50 million in the Texas lawsuit have reached an agreement on how to divide proceeds from sales of Jones and Infowars assets. The two sides have been at odds over the issue for months.

Under the agreement, the families in the Texas lawsuit will receive at least $4 million, and the families in the Connecticut lawsuit will receive at least $12 million. If the families in the Connecticut lawsuit get more than $12 million, the families in the Texas lawsuit will get 25% of that additional amount. The deal needs approval from Lopez, the bankruptcy judge.

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