Friday 5 August 2022 05:37 PM Alex Jones asks for donations after being ordered to pay $4.1M to Sandy Hook ... trends now
Conservative conspiracy theorist Alex Jones begged his viewers to donate to him on Thursday after he was ordered to pay more than $4 million to the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, which he once claimed was a hoax, as an economist testifies in court that he and his company are worth $270 million.
In a video posted Thursday to Infowars.com, Jones said the amount he's ordered to pay is 'more than my company has [and] more than I personally have,' claiming 'we are so broke.'
Jones told viewers it's their responsibility to keep him and his company afloat, saying in the video 'if you don't fund us... we will shut down' and telling them 'it's your decision' whether Infowars shuts down.
He added the company 'can barely keep the crew employed' due to their financial issues, but his website was found to have made over $800,000 a day during their peak in 2017, though Jones called that their best day ever.
Alex Jones released a video asking his viewers to help fund him, and said it's their responsibility to keep him and his company afloat, saying in the video 'if you don't fund us... we will shut down'
Jones admitted during the trial and to the families of the victims that he was wrong to call the mass shooting a hoax and admitted it did, in fact, happen, a sentiment he reiterated in the video.
But Bernard Pettingill, an economist who was hired by the plaintiffs to study Jones’ net worth, testified Friday that Jones is worth up to $270 million. He said records show that Jones withdrew $62 million for himself in 2021, when default judgments were issued in lawsuits against him.
'That number represents, in my opinion, a value of a net worth,' Pettingill said. 'He's got money put in a bank account somewhere.'
The money that flows into Jones' companies eventually funnels its way to him, said Pettingill, who added that he has testified in approximately 1,500 cases during his career.
'He is a very successful man,' Pettingill said, calling Jones a 'maverick' and 'revolutionary' for finding ways to monetize his online messaging.
Multiple bankruptcy filings, however, revealed that Jones has profited approximately $22 million over the past 17 months and has received $9 million in cryptocurrency donations.
Jones may still owe even more money, as the punitive damages phase of the trial begins today. He also has other defamation lawsuits pending against him.
During the trial, Jones' main company, Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy as a small business in an attempt to protect Jones and the company from oversight that would occur if they filed as a bigger corporation.
Jones admitted during the trial and to the families of the victims that he was wrong to call the mass shooting a hoax and admitted it did, in fact, happen, a sentiment he reiterated in the video.
'I admitted I was wrong, I admitted that I made a mistake,' Jones said as he pleaded for help. 'What I did to those families was wrong, but I didn't do it on purpose.'
The bleak video comes as Jones' ex-wife, Kelly Nichols, said the controversial media figure is 'mentally ill' and needs to be 'protected from himself and others.'
'He doesn't have any moral compass. He lives in his own universe. He's a very delusional man,' she added in an interview with Inside Edition.
Jones was ordered on Thursday to pay $4.1 million to the parents of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, after claiming the massacre was a hoax and that he couldn't pay anything over $2 million.
'At the end of the day, I don't have all these millions of dollars they claim I have, so I'm at peace,' Jones said in the video.
But his ex-wife says otherwise: 'I know he had hidden money. I think he's got a lot of buckets under a lot of shells.'
The parents sought at least $150 million dollars in
