Yeah, they wanted to settle for $85M.
He refused to go any higher than $55M so it went nowhere.
I seem to recall reading that the main thing the families want to see is Infowars and FSS put out of business and see Alex Jones ruined financially. It looks like they are likely to get that.
I’m sure they would take the whatever money they are able to recover but I have the feeling that isn’t their only goal.
What I saw today indicated that Infowars’ days are numbered.
The Alex Jones–Sandy Hook Legal Fight Could End Infowars (nymag.com)
In the latest development of the yearslong legal saga of far-right provocateur Alex Jones, the court-appointed trustee handling his media company indicated in a court filing on Sunday that he intends to shutter the business and sell off its properties. The trustee, Christopher Murray, wrote that he plans to conduct “an orderly wind-down process and asset sale” of the business. Such a sale would likely include Infowars, Jones’s flagship media website.
Most of them do, the Connecticut families do. One family in Texas that filed separately seems to want to maximize the payment instead.
I’m not throwing shade at them, maybe they think that’s better justice.
The AP link in my update had the same info, yeah.
What’s to stop some right-wing billionaire from buying the whole thing including the name and hiring Jones to keep Infowars going? There’s clearly a built-in audience and it’s the sort of evil bullshit the right currently love.
Not ideal, but at least that would be money that can’t be used, say, in political campaigning.
I’d hope that if something like that is in the offing, the Connecticut families’ legal counsel is aware of it and is advising their clients to more firmly dig in and hold out for every cent.
It would probably be more efficient for a billionaire to start an entirely new but similar company and hire Jones for that.
Isn’t there something in the process that lets the families attach Jones’ future earnings, too?
Or start a new company and hire some other crazy lying right-wing blowhard. It’s not like there’s a shortage of them.
No problem. The purpose of this action was to punish Jones for a particular line of right-wing bullshit, not to eradicate the airwaves of all right-wing bullshit.
Well, except that for better or worse (mostly worse) Infowars and Jones are a high-profile right-wing media team. Starting with a known brand and existing audience is a much surer path to success.
But at least Jones wouldn’t own it anymore.
Update! The intellectual property of infowars has been auctioned off, including their archives, websites, and mailing lists. The winner? The Onion, in conjunction with Sandy Hook Promise and other gun control organizations. Physical assets to be sold Dec. 10th.
The schadenfreude is delicious.
How much did it sell for?
The sale price has not been disclosed.
Ohhh, the schadenfreude.
Are we absolutely certain that The Onion has actually won the auction, and that they haven’t just announced that they have?
While that also would be entertaining, it’s widely reported. Example: The Onion Buys Alex Jones' Infowars At Auction | HuffPost Latest News
They must have outbid John Oliver, but then I think he probably blew his stunt budget on that luxury motorcoach with which he was trying buy Clarance Thomas’ into retirement.
The Onion is quickly actually becoming “America’s Finest News Source”, certainly with a higher degree of news reporting and analysis than CNN or MSNBC, and unlike The New York Times they are explicit that they are making stories up out of whole cloth.
Stranger
I’m not actually doubting it, but neither Huffpo nor the AP article clearly specify a source other than The Onion for their stories. I’m not actually sure which possibility is funnier.
The AP article does include:
Also, from a CNN article: