The Onion Acquires Infowars from Alex Jones in Bankruptcy Auction

The Onion, a satirical news company, has won the bankruptcy auction for control over Alex Jones’ media empire, including InfoWars. Jones announced the sale, stating that The Onion purchased InfoWars and plans to shut down the website, then rebuild it with internet humor writers and content creators. Jones, known for spreading false and bizarre conspiracy theories, built a successful media operation around the Infowars brand. The details of the auction, including the amount offered for Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars, were not immediately known. The funds generated from the sale are intended to satisfy Jones’ estate creditors, primarily victims’ families of the Sandy Hook shooting, to whom he must pay damages in defamation verdicts totaling nearly $1.5 billion. Despite the verdicts, Jones claimed he could not afford to pay and filed for bankruptcy in 2022, with a judge allowing him to liquidate his personal assets to help settle the debts. Brandy Zadrozny and Erik Ortiz, senior reporters for NBC News, cover misinformation, extremism, racial injustice, and social inequality. This is a developing story, and updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

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