Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday moved to liquidate his personal assets, agreeing to demands from the families of Sandy Hook victims whom he owes more than $1.5 billion in damages over his lies about the 2012 school massacre.

The seismic move paves the way for a future in which Jones no longer owns Infowars, the influential conspiracy empire he founded in the late 1990s. Over the years, Jones has not only used the media company to poison the public discourse with vile lies and conspiracy theories, but also to enrich himself to the tune of millions of dollars.

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has asked a US court to liquidate his assets, legal filings show, which could allow him to start paying damages he owes the familes of victims of a 2012 school shooting.

The surviving families of the Sandy Hook shooting have not yet seen any of $1.5bn (£1.32bn) Mr Jones was ordered to pay in 2022.

The request, filed in a Texas court on Thursday, could speed up payments to the families, some of whom have faced harassment over Mr Jones’s claims.

Mr Jones and his media company Infowars have been contacted for comment.

Alex Jones will liquidate his assets to help pay off a $1.5 billion defamation judgment against him after he was sued by the families of the children who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting for saying that the massacre was a hoax.

Jones, the host of the popular Infowars site, has asked a US judge to convert his bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation, giving up on an effort to settle the judgments related to his lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.