Not Satire: The Onion acquires Infowars

The Onion has successfully acquired Infowars.

The satirical news outlet purchased Alex Jones' right-wing conspiracy empire at a court-ordered auction, the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting announced Thursday.

"The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for," said Robbie Parker, whose daughter was killed in the 2012 school shooting.

As part of the deal, The Onion, owned by Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson and led by chief executive Ben Collins, acquired Infowars' website, product inventory, customers lists, social media accounts, and intellectual property.

Collins told Status that Infowars will be rebooted under new ownership in January.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But the Sandy Hook families increased the size of The Onion's bid by agreeing to forgo a portion of the money Jones owes them. Collins told Status that Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit founded in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting to stop gun violence, inked a multi-year agreement to advertise on the new Infowars.

"From day one, these families have fought against all odds to bring true accountability to Alex Jones and his corrupt business,” Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Connecticut families, said in a statement. "Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain and fear at scale."

Courts ordered Jones in 2023 to pay the Sandy Hook families more than $1.5 billion for the lies and conspiracy theories he promoted about the 2012 shooting.

Jones founded Infowars in the late 1990s and has used the media company to not only poison the public discourse with disinformation, but also to enrich himself to the tune of millions of dollars.

Over the last few days, Jones indicated he appeared to be holding out hope that an ally of his would purchase Infowars. Ultimately, that proved unsuccessful.

Jones predictably reacted to the news by telling his audience that the Democrats were shutting him down as part of a political vendetta. Owen Shroyer, a popular Infowars personality, expressed disbelief at the news The Onion had acquired the company.

“It’s almost like a satire of a satire,” Shroyer said on Infowars’ final broadcast. “It’s like a joke of a joke.”

While Jones will no longer own Infowars, he has indicated that he will continue to broadcast after losing control of the media company.