Federal bankruptcy judge rejects The Onion’s auction bid to purchase of Alex Jones’ Infowars

A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas has formally rejected satirical news site The Onion’s bid to purchase Alex Jones’ Infowars, ruling that last month’s auction lacked transparency.

In his ruling on Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said auction trustee Christopher Murray did not run a transparent enough auction and wrongly named The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, the winner despite the company not offering the highest bid.

“I don’t think it’s enough money. I’m going to not approve the sale,” Judge Lopez said Tuesday after a two-day hearing. “I think you’ve got to go out and try to get every dollar. I think that the process fell down.”

According to court documents, First American United Cos., which is affiliated with Mr. Jones, bid $3.5 million in cash for Infowars, more than double Global Tetrahedron’s $1.7 million cash bid.

However, Mr. Murray valued The Onion’s bid at about $7 million due to the addition of non-cash pledges made by the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims. The family members agreed to forgo traditional proceeds they would receive from the sale of Infowars.

The Sandy Hook families are Mr. Jones’ largest creditors after they successfully sued him for defamation. Mr. Jones now owes the Sandy Hook families more than $1.4 billion.

Attorneys for First American United argued that The Onion’s bid should have lost since it contained “amorphous, non-cash currency,” and that First American’s all-cash offer was the clear winner.

Judge Lopez said Mr. Murray should have told First American about the structure of The Onion’s bid and given the company a chance to revise their offer.

However, Mr. Murray said he was not trying to play favorites during the auction. During this week’s hearing, he argued that The Onion’s offer would have secured the highest payout for Mr. Jones’ creditors. The Onion had promised to turn Infowars into another satirical news site that would have generated profits for the Sandy Hook families.

Judge Lopez’s ruling leaves the future of Infowars up in the air. For now, Mr. Jones will be able to broadcast his show as usual. But Judge Lopez left the door open for another auction, giving Mr. Murray the power to dictate next steps.

Mr. Jones praised the judge’s decision late Tuesday in an Infowars livestream, saying “We can celebrate the judge doing the right thing.”

The Onion CEO Ben Collins expressed his disappointment but reaffirmed the site’s cause.

“We appreciate that the court repeatedly recognized The Onion acted in good faith,” Mr. Collins posted on X. “But we are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board with no winner, and no clear path forward for any bidder.”