Words have power and Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist and talk show host, has learned that the hard way.
Mere hours after the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting on Dec. 14. 2012 that resulted in the death of 20 children and six educators, Jones began spreading lies that the massacre was a hoax on both his far-right website Infowars and on his talk show. He claimed the murdered children were crisis actors and that their tearful, grief-stricken parents were actors as well.
His claims that Sandy Hook was a staged performance and a “government operation” spread to thousands of listeners across hundreds of radio stations. He claimed the U.S. government was out to confiscate America’s firearms, holding on to that belief for several years. This resulted in death threats and hate speech upon the parents of the victims by those who supported Jones.
In 2018, a group of 10 Sandy Hook families from Connecticut and Texas filed four suits against Jones — later combined into three — that said they endured years of stalking, harassment, and death threats as a result of his conspiracy theories.
By Oct. 2022, after nine years of harassment and several years of having to testify that their children were indeed real and murdered, Jones lost both the Connecticut and the Texas cases and was ordered to pay $1.4 billion in damages for the former and another $45.2 million for the latter.
Did Alex Jones file for bankruptcy following the Sandy Hook litigation?
Alex Jones’ disregard for decency on a topic whose facts spoke for themselves earned him a pretty penny; for several years he earned up to $70 million a year selling products that capitalized on his audience’s distrust in the government, according to The New York Times. A distrust that, for many, was borne of Jones’ rhetoric
Following the news of the court’s ruling, Jones went on air making a mockery of his monetary punishment.
But things took a sharp turn when Jones officially filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, according to The New York Times. This came after Infowars‘ parent company, Free Speech Systems filed for bankruptcy several months prior.
Just because he’s filed for bankruptcy doesn’t mean he won’t have to pay. The attorney for the families in the Connecticut case, Christopher Mattei said in a statement to CNN that “it won’t work.”
“Like every other cowardly move Alex Jones has made, this bankruptcy will not work. The bankruptcy system does not protect anyone who engages in intentional and egregious attacks on others, as Mr. Jones did. The American judicial system will hold Alex Jones accountable, and we will never stop working to enforce the jury’s verdict.”
What is Alex Jones’ net worth now?
The exact figures for Alex Jones’ net worth have not been corroborated by the man himself but an economist who took the stand during the Texas trial estimated Jones’ net worth to be between $135 and $270 million, according to Forbes. In the past Jones has put his net worth closer to $2 million, a clear downgrade meant to highlight his inability to pay any court-ordered fees.
Jones called his near $1.5 billion ruling “ridiculous” on his show, saying he couldn’t pay those fees because he had “almost nothing.” “Well, of course, I’m laughing at it,” he said. “It’d be like if you sent me a bill for a billion dollars in the mail. Oh man, we got you.”
Whether his net worth was $2 million or $270 million, Jones clearly was not able to pay those fees, made evident by his bankruptcy filing. Who knows where the road will take him next, but one thing is certain – it will be an uphill financial battle from here on out, and the families of the victims will stop at nothing to see him pay what he owes.
