The Insane Story of How the Onion Bought InfoWars (and How Alex Jones Is Trying to Steal It Back)

Okay, everyone, go home. The Onion has done it. The Onion has accomplished the funniest thing imaginable: they have purchased Alex Jones's Infowars out of bankruptcy. It's unclear exactly what they intend to do with it, but treating it with respect is probably not high on my list. How in the world did The Onion pull this off?

Did they conspire with these Sandy Hook plaintiffs, as Alex Jones is alleging? And will Alex Jones be able to steal it back? Spoiler: he's trying. Chaos lawyer Liz Di breaks down the whole saga. Thanks, Devin.

Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who started the media company Infowars to monetize hate speech, is watching his empire be sold off to his enemies, and it could not happen to a nicer guy. On December 14, 2012, a deranged individual with a powerful weapon gunned down 20 first graders and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Within hours, Jones called the surviving family members crisis actors and speculated that the massacre was actually a false flag operation perpetrated by the Obama administration to gin up support for gun control. He also encouraged his millions of fans to "do your own research," leading to his ghoulish supporters harassing the grieving parents for years, accosting them in public, and even forcing them to flee their homes. When confronted with the horrifying consequences of his actions, Jones doubled down, calling himself a warrior for free speech.

In 2018, two sets of family members filed defamation suits against Jones and Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars. One suit was filed in Texas, where Jones lives, and the other was filed in Connecticut, where the families resided. Jones spent years refusing to comply with his discovery obligations and generally making himself objectionable to the court. At one point, he went on the air and called the parents' lawyer, Chris Maddy, a "little white Jew boy jerk-off son of a bitch." His lawyers threatened to sue my employer when I reported that incident, despite the fact that it was in a court transcript, which he failed to contest before or since.

Jones's conduct was so egregious that he eventually received two default judgments against him. A default judgment occurs when the court determines that a party has behaved so poorly that they forfeit their right to contest the case. It is sometimes referred to as "death penalty sanctions" because it is a severe punishment that is almost never applied. Jones managed to obtain it twice, meaning that neither the Connecticut plaintiffs nor the Texas plaintiffs had to prove their cases in court. Therefore, when they finally went to trial in 2022, the only question for the jury was how much money Jones would have to pay to the Sandy Hook families. The answer was a significant amount.

In Texas, the award was almost $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages; in reality, it was more than $1.4 billion. Jones laughed on air as the jury read out its verdict, saying, "Ain't gonna be happening; ain't no money." He then moved to block the plaintiffs from collecting on the judgments by appealing the trial cases and declaring bankruptcy. We have done videos on the channel before about Jones's bankruptcy strategy, but long story short, Jones stalled for a while in Chapter 11, which is the provision of bankruptcy for companies or individuals who plan to come to terms with their creditors and reorganize as an ongoing business. However, you cannot discharge damages for willful torts in bankruptcy because it would be terrible public policy to allow someone to commit, say, an assault, and then declare bankruptcy to make a judgment for damages disappear. In October 2023, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez ruled that the vast majority of the jury awards were non-dischargeable because defamation is a willful tort, which meant that those monetary judgments would follow Jones around for the rest of his life. This also meant that there was no point in the bankruptcy for Jones other than delay, since he was never going to get rid of that debt. At that point, Jones converted his bankruptcy from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation, as there was no reason to continue paying his lawyers and have the court micromanage his spending.

Under Chapter 7, you basically agree to let the court sell off everything you own and split the proceeds among your creditors. Jones owns 100% of FSS, and on September 25th, Judge Lopez authorized the bankruptcy trustee to put the company up for auction. When Alex Jones converted his bankruptcy to Chapter 7, the court appointed a trustee named Christopher Murray. Murray is a highly experienced bankruptcy lawyer whose job here is to sell off Jones's assets and divide the proceeds among his creditors. Murray hired the auction company Transon 360 to begin selling off FSS in November.

Goblin troll Roger Stone made noise about buying it, and progressive media outlets like The Barbed Wire and Media Matters also expressed interest in purchasing pieces of the company. There was also a suggestion on social media that reporter Ben Collins, who had just purchased the satirical website The Onion, had the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever. Murray planned for a two-stage auction. In the first stage, Trans-On would sell FSS's intellectual property, which was divided into two major buckets. The first bucket contained the Infowars media assets, such as product rights, domain names, social media accounts, subscriber lists, etc.

The second bucket contained the Infowars media assets, such as the product rights, domain names, social media accounts, and subscriber lists, among others. This bucket also included the Infowars store, which encompassed domain names, products, the e-commerce platform, and customer and vendor lists. In the second stage, they planned to sell the company's physical assets, including microphones, screens, desks, company vehicles, and basically anything tangible. However, the auction listing made it clear that they were willing to sell the whole business as a turnkey operation—essentially the entire package deal, including the physical assets. In this case, Murray would cancel the second auction. The first auction closed on November 8, and Alex Jones seemed confident that the buyer would be someone who wanted to keep Infowars going as a "fire hose of hate," with him as the nozzle.

CNN reported that there had been a seven-figure bid, and Jones said on his show that he was pretty sure the good guys were going to buy it and let him keep running the place. However, on November 14th, Murray, the trustee, notified the court that he designated the joint bid by Global Tetrahedron LLC, the parent company of The Onion, and the Connecticut families as the successful bid at the IP assets auction. He indicated that The Onion deal was for the entire operation and was scheduled to close by November 30, 2024. Collins posted on Blue Sky that The Onion, with the help of the Sandy Hook families, had purchased Infowars. "We are planning on making it a very funny, very stupid website," he added.

We own everything: the broadcasting equipment, the supplements, and the intellectual property for Brain Force Plus. We are still trying to figure out what to do with it. Then, he issued a statement from the fictional CEO, Bryce P.T. Trader, promising to melt down all the vitamins into one candy bar-sized pill that would grant immortality. In case you didn't catch that clever wordplay from The Onion, "Traitor" is the German word for "tetrahedron."

Chris Maddy, the attorney for the Connecticut plaintiffs, issued a non-satirical statement saying, "Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones's ability to spread lies, pain, and fear at scale. By divesting Jones of Infowars assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones's ability to do more harm." And there was great happiness in the land. The Onion, which for ten years has posted a story about every mass shooting under the headline "No Way to Prevent This," says, "Only Nation Where It Regularly Happens," was going to take over the site that caused more than a decade of abuse for the Sandy Hook families. The Onion also had a multi-year advertising deal with Everytown for Gun Safety, a pro-gun control nonprofit founded by Michael Bloomberg.

Even Fox News managed not to get fooled by the fake tea trader announcement. However, it did air the claim that The Onion has 4.3 trillion daily readers. Not everyone was pleased, though. Obviously, Alex Jones was angry, and so were his associates who lost out in the auction; they were not going to go quietly.

And just like they tried to shut us down back in late May without a court order, they're supposed to have a court order. There are going to be injunctions filed. I'm about to go live from Harrison's American Journal studio. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm going to be here until they come in and turn the lights off. Now, obviously, Jones would have benefited from having a better lawyer during this whole bankruptcy process, but if you want a great lawyer from the start, my law firm, The Eagle Team, can help.

If you've suffered a data breach, especially if you received one of those data breach letters, were involved in a car crash, or dealt with sexual harassment from Alex Jones or anyone else, we can represent you or help you find the right attorney. It's crucial to talk to us right away so you can maximize your recovery and understand your options. Just click on the link in the description or call the phone number on the screen right now for a free consultation with my team. You don't just need any legal team; you need the Eagle Team. So click on the link below.

When he notified the court of the deal, Murray said that the runner-up bidder was a company called First United American Companies LLC, or F.U.A.C. It's not clear who the A.C. is that the company was "fu-ing," but they were definitely throwing up middle fingers about the results of the auction. Within hours, F.U.A.C.'s lawyer, Walter Sisek, requested an emergency hearing to, quote, address the apparent defects in the sale process, including changing the procedures, lack of transparency, and inaccurate disclosures to interested bidders. Because the value of the assets is in the process of being destroyed at this very minute, F.U.A.C. requests a status conference today if the court's calendar can accommodate. Walter Sesak previously appeared as counsel for one Charlie Sysak, who was deposed during the Chapter 11 proceedings.

The New York Times describes Charlie as an entrepreneur who had sold products through Free Speech Systems in the past and who claimed ignorance of the relationship. He then deleted references to Infowars from his social media accounts when the paper contacted him. Judge Lopez held a hearing that very afternoon, and Sysak, the attorney, went first. He claimed that there had been no actual auction, that he did not know the winning bid, and that he’d never had a chance to match or counter the offer from The Onion and the Connecticut parents. The judge asked Murray if that was true, and Murray said, "It's complicated," which is not what a court wants to hear in response to a yes or no question. Judge Lopez hit the roof, saying, "We're all going to an evidentiary hearing, and I'm going to figure out exactly what happened, and no one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction."

Jones then spent the entire weekend telling his followers that the judge had canceled the sale and promising that Elon Musk was about to ride to his rescue. He even claimed that Collins was going to end up in a jail cell. None of that is true. Let's start with the Musk piece. Yes, the world's most thin-skinned billionaire could easily dig around the couch cushions and find three or four million dollars to buy InfoWars, but there is absolutely no indication that that's what's going on here.

The company formerly known as Twitter entered a limited appearance solely for the purpose of contesting any sale of the real Alex Jones account, which it claims cannot be sold under its terms of service. Whether this is correct as a matter of law remains to be determined, as the court has yet to rule on it. However, Jones himself characterized the seizure of his personal social media accounts as a violation of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery. He made this statement only while addressing his fans.

His lawyers weren't going to say anything so offensively stupid in court. Liz, are you new here? Are you suggesting that Jones' lawyers can be shamed? Yeah, okay, fair. Anyway, the court's decision about the social media accounts has nothing to do with the sale of FSS.

That is a total red herring. On Monday, FUAC filed a motion to disqualify the winner, alleging serious misconduct by Murray, the trustee. SESAC accused Murray and the auction company Transon of impermissible collusion with The Onion in an effort to rig the auction with the goal of achieving a specific result desired by the Connecticut families. He claimed that they changed the rules of the auction in violation of the court's order. Less than two hours later, Murray docketed a furious preliminary response, promising to respond in due course, fully and in detail, to the barrage of baseless allegations and selective truths in FUAC's recent filings. He also reserved all rights, including those under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9011, regarding the duties of attorneys who sign their names to pleadings in this court, which is legal speak for "You lied to the judge, and I'm going to move for aggressive sanctions against you."

Murray followed up with a detailed motion requesting that the court ratify the sale. That motion and Fuac's filing, as well, attached as exhibits all of the previously sealed bidding documents. So now, we know that the auction included the Infowars archive, the social media accounts for various businesses, and 7,000 square feet of equipment. We know that the Infowars store brought in $35 million in sales in 2023 and $22.4 million in the first nine months of 2024. We know that the purchase agreement names War Is Over LLC, an entity formed by The Onion, as the new owner of Infowars.

And we know that Alex Jones likes to hoard some very niche domain names. Goblins? What the...? I never expected Trump to charge into a goblin's nest and not get some goblin vomit and slop blood on him.

I just don't want to catch him in bed with a goblin. Thanks to these exhibits, we know a lot more about what went down here. I mean, we still don't know for sure who's behind FUAC, but we can now piece together what happened and why the lower bid was actually better for the creditors overall. To explain that, we have to go back to the two Sandy Hook verdicts. Remember, the first trial in Texas resulted in a $50 million verdict for Scarlett Lewis and Neil Eslyn, whose six-year-old son Jesse Lewis was murdered in his classroom.

The second trial in Connecticut involved several sets of parents. Remember, that verdict was $1.4 billion. Jones has other creditors, but none with claims approaching that size. While $50 million is obviously a lot of money, it's not $1.4 billion. If you sell off Jones's assets and divide them pro rata among his creditors, the Connecticut plaintiffs are going to take 97 cents out of every dollar, which feels pretty fundamental to me—unfair.

So, the Onion's lawyers and the lawyers for the two sets of Sandy Hook plaintiffs collaborated to create a proposal that would adjust the incentives so that the Texas plaintiffs would receive more if the Onion was the winning bidder, compared to if Jones' associates attempted to make the purchase. It’s a bit technical, but bear with me here. At the end of the vetting process, there were only two qualified bidders: the Onion and F-U-A-A-C. The Onion's opening bid was set at one million dollars, comprising $999,000 for the intellectual property and $1,000 for the store.

Because they're a satire website and they're not interested in selling beet tincture and male enhancement vitamins, they didn't bid on the domain names at all. Fuac's opening bid was for $1.2 million, and they bid on every item in the inventory. With two bidders, it's unlikely that you'll hold a live auction with everyone raising their paddles and trying to outbid each other. Instead, after consulting with Transon, Murray went back to the two bidders and said, "Give me your best and final offer."

How high are you guys willing to go? Now, CSAC, the lawyer for FUAC, argued that changing the rules violated the court's order. In court, Judge Lopez was clearly surprised, as he was anticipating this situation and not what actually occurred. However, Judge Lopez's order very clearly allowed Murray broad latitude to modify or even cancel the auction. It stated that the trustee is authorized, with the assistance of Transon 360 and his other advisors, to market, solicit bids, and conduct auctions, if necessary, for the IP assets.

It stated that the auction is subject to rescheduling or cancellation by the trustee in his reasonable discretion. It mentioned that Murray could modify any procedures at the IP assets auction, if any, and/or terminate discussions with any potential bidders at any time. Therefore, Murray had broad discretion to change the rules at any time and without permission from the court. Crucially, Murray and Transon guided Fuac and the Onion through the revised bidding process, and neither bidder objected to that procedure at the time.

When asked for its best and final offer, Fuac increased its bid to $3.5 million, while The Onion, through Global Tetrahedron, raised its bid to $1.75 million. However, The Onion's bid included what they referred to as a distributable proceeds waiver, designed to ensure that the Texas plaintiffs would receive $100,000 more under The Onion's bid than under any competitor's offer. It worked like this: no matter how much the auction generated, the trustee, the auctioneer, and the lawyers were all going to be paid first, and their share was expected to be around $650.

Thousand dollars that amount was always coming off the top, and whatever was left would go 97% to the Connecticut plaintiffs and 3% to everyone else. So, if the Fuac offer of three and a half million dollars was accepted, the total revenue would be $2.85 million after the $650,000 administrative fee. The Connecticut plaintiffs would receive functionally all of that because 97 cents out of every dollar recovered was going to them. The Texas plaintiffs, along with every other creditor, would share just $85,500, which would not even make a dent in their legal fees. So, the Connecticut plaintiffs said, "We will forego as much of our share as necessary to get the Texas plaintiffs to a place where they are $100,000 better off than the next highest bidder." To make that math even fairer, they suggested adjusting the Texas plaintiffs' percentage to 25% instead of 3%, which was quite generous. Here’s a table explaining the math.

If the bid from FUAC was $2 million, the Texas parents would be entitled to 25% of that, which is $500,000. The Connecticut parents would then increase their share to $600,000. If the bid was $3 million, the Connecticut parents would ensure that the Texas parents received $850,000, and so on. In the event that FUAC's bid was $3.5 million, or $2.85 million after administrative costs, 25% of that would be $712,500. Therefore, the Connecticut parents promised to get the Texas parents to $812,500, which would make them materially better off under this deal.

To complete this math problem, the Onion's best and final offer was $1.75 million in cash. After paying the $650,000 in administrative expenses, that left $1.1 million. Under the 75-25 split, that amounts to $825,000 for the Connecticut plaintiffs and $275,000 for the Texas plaintiffs. To raise the Texas plaintiffs' amount to $812,500, you would take their initial $712,500 and add the agreed-upon $100,000.

The Connecticut plaintiffs had to disclaim $537,500 and let the Texas parents have it. And that's exactly what they did. They cut a deal with The Onion to get paid on the back end from ad revenue, and they handed the Texas plaintiffs more than half a million dollars to ensure that Alex Jones wouldn't be able to use this platform to hurt people anymore. Murray, the trustee, is almost certainly on firm legal ground when he says that this deal maximizes value for all the creditors, which is his job. It's kind of beautiful.

Naturally, Jones and his allies are treating this issue with all the nuance and seriousness it deserves. I'm kidding. He actually filed an absolutely lunatic complaint, alleging that it violates his First Amendment rights to be associated with leftists and gun grabbers because something, something Hillary Clinton? Not today, Satan. Meanwhile, Collins and his counsel explained that they fully expect to emerge as the new owners of InfoWars.

Yeah, look, we won the bid. We own Infowars, and we are very excited about that. But is it true that you didn't have the highest bid? We did have the highest bid when you take into account the family's concessions. They made a concerted effort to make this the best and highest bid for everyone involved.

On social media, Collins said, "We always knew the guys who currently run InfoWars were going to take this badly and use the loss to fundraise off it, and they did not disappoint. We expected all of this, obviously. Buying the site was always going to be fun later on, but annoying right away. The fun part is still to come. Oh, I think it's pretty fun already."

Now, I would like to believe that out of all of this, Alex Jones has learned his lesson. Unfortunately, as Liz just pointed out, he has learned nothing and has instead filed suit against the Sandy Hook plaintiffs. So, this isn't really the end of the litigation so much as perhaps the beginning of the end of the litigation. However, The Onion's pending acquisition has everyone talking. The sale has been covered by 476 news outlets, with 109 of those sources leaning left and only 54 leaning right.

But the fascinating thing about the story is that most of the coverage is actually balanced, with 132 news sources approaching it from the center. I guess most people just really hate Infowars or really love The Onion. The news stories from the center-left focus on how The Onion aims to shut down conspiracy theories, and they also delight in what Vanity Fair calls "karmic justice." On the other side, Fox Business reports that The Onion won the auction and promises to reintroduce the site as a parody of itself.

And other right-leaning story sources claim that the bankruptcy court rejected a higher bid by another group, which you now know is partially true and partially false. The one thing that left-, right-, and center-headline writers have in common is that they love headlines—no joke—with many news sources using the exact same headline. Now, this is all possible thanks to today's sponsor, Ground News, a website and app developed by a former NASA engineer on a mission to give readers an easy, data-driven, objective way to read the news. Right now, they're having their biggest sale of the year, offering LegalEagle viewers 50% off their unlimited access Vantage subscription. You can scan the QR code or use the link in the description to get a discount for a limited time.

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