Alex Jones Raked in $165 Million Over Three Years Selling Supplements and Prepper Gear
Hawking supplements and survival gear has been quite a lucrative business for Alex Jones. The conspiracy theorist raked in $165 million from the Infowars store over three years beginning in September 2015, all while begging his supporters to help him stay financially solvent, records obtained by Huff Post revealed on Friday.
Jones pleaded with a caller to his radio show to help him “pay the bills” as recently as Thursday. “I’m not going to stop growth and let them push us backwards,” he said in a typical appeal. “I need your help, Frank. I need your help!”
The bills Jones needs to pay aren’t for the cost of electricity at the Infowars studio. Jones is entering 2022 facing potentially massive legal expenses after losing yet another lawsuit stemming from his lies about the Sandy Hook shooting being fake.
The news about just how fast merchandise has flown off the shelves of the Infowars store — which is known for selling a variety of survivalist items, dubious brain supplements, and more — came as the result of a discovery request in a court case brought by a parent of one of the victims of the 2012 massacre. Jones lost the case last September, as he has several others that have been brought over his Sandy Hook lies, and his wallet has taken a hit.
By March 2020, for instance, Jones had amassed $150,000 in legal fees in one case alone — one in which he had yet to even face a jury.
“It is rare to see a legal defense so incompetent and disrespectful to the rule of law that it causes a defendant to rack up $150,000 in fines during preliminary motions before even reaching trial,” the attorney for the victims’ families said at the time. “These fines are only the beginning. A far greater reckoning awaits Mr. Jones.”
Jones has called the shooting, which left 20 children and six adults dead, a “false flag” with “green screen” images and “crisis actors.” Huff Post pointed out on Friday that on days when Jones pushed lies like these on his show, the sales in his Infowars store rose. “I’ve watched a lot of soap operas, and I’ve seen actors before,” Jones said on his Nov. 18, 2016 broadcast. “And I know when I’m watching a movie and when I’m watching something real.”
Jones’ total profit that day: $103,513.11.
Other legal battles may spur Jones to keep pleading for cash, including his lawsuit against the House Jan. 6 committee after it subpoenaed him for testimony and records over his role in planning the deadly Capitol insurrection. Jones, unsurprisingly, spread false theories about the 2020 presidential election. Once you lie about a school shooting that left 20 young children dead, pushing conspiracy theories about voter fraud probably doesn’t seem like such a big deal.