A US judge on Friday approved the liquidation of Alex Jones' personal assets, media reports said, setting the stage for the repayment of nearly $1.5 billion in damages he owes the victims of a school mass shooting.
The ruling by a bankruptcy court in Houston throws into doubt the future of Jones's far-right website InfoWars -- long notorious for peddling misinformation -- which dangled the prospect of a "potential last broadcast" on Friday.
The commentyator and media personality had been ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages for calling a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in the state of Connecticut –- which left 20 first graders and six adults dead -- a "hoax."
But Jones subsequently declared personal bankruptcy in Texas, his home state, saying his liabilities far exceeded his assets that were worth between $1 million and $10 million. Free Speech Systems, the Texas-based parent company of InfoWars, also declared bankruptcy.
The judge on Friday allowed Jones to convert his personal bankruptcy case into a straightforward liquidation, but was yet to rule on whether his company should also be liquidated, US media reported.
The ruling means many of Jones' personal assets -- including a Texas ranch worth about $2.8 million -- will be sold off to help pay the debts, but some assets such as his home in the Austin area are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation, reports said.
Jones has been warning his vast right-wing audience that his company is on the verge of being shut down. On Friday, one headline on his website read: "This could be THE LAST broadcast of Infowars! DO NOT miss this!"