Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday moved to liquidate his personal assets, agreeing to demands from the families of Sandy Hook victims whom he owes more than $1.5 billion in damages over his lies about the 2012 school massacre.

The seismic move paves the way for a future in which Jones no longer owns Infowars, the influential conspiracy empire he founded in the late 1990s. Over the years, Jones has not only used the media company to poison the public discourse with vile lies and conspiracy theories, but also to enrich himself to the tune of millions of dollars.

Prior to Thursday, Jones had resisted converting his personal bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation. But facing mounting legal pressure, he reversed course and caved to the demands of the Sandy Hook families, who have still not seen a penny from Jones since juries in Connecticut and Texas found him liable in 2022 for defamation and emotional distress. His lawyers said in a filing that there was “no reasonable prospect for a successful reorganization” and that continuing down the path would only result in additional expenses incurred by Jones.

  • @Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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    376 months ago

    This wording is far too kind to this shithead. Makes it sound like it was out of the goodness of his heart. He was forced to because he owes like a billion dollars in judgements and has been trying to use his companies and whatever stupid shenanigans he can come up with to try and prevent any sort of payout to his victims.

    • Flying Squid
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      56 months ago

      I see what you’re saying, but technically he could have dragged this out a lot longer than he did. He probably would have ended up losing even more, but he did have that option. So “agrees” would be correct.