Alex Jones

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Alexander Emerick Jones was born on February 11, 1974, in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Rockwall, 25 miles east of Dallas. His father was a dentist from Austin and his mother a homemaker. The family moved to Austin in Jones's second year of high school. He attended Anderson High School, where he played football and graduated in 1993, then briefly attended Austin Community College before dropping out. As a teenager, he read None Dare Call It Conspiracy by John Birch Society conspiracy theorist Gary Allen, which alleged global bankers controlled American politics; Jones described it as 'the easiest-to-read primer on The New World Order.' The Waco siege in 1993 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 shaped his worldview. He began accusing the federal government of causing the Oklahoma City bombing, saying, 'I understood there's a kleptocracy working with psychopathic governments—clutches of evil that know the tricks of control.' In 1998, he organized a successful campaign to build a new Branch Davidian church as a memorial. Jones started his broadcasting career on public-access cable television in Austin, then switched to radio in 1996 on KJFK (98.9 FM). In 1999, he tied with Shannon Burke for 'Best Austin Talk Radio Host' in The Austin Chronicle poll. He was fired from KJFK later that year for refusing to broaden his topics; the station's operations manager said his views made it difficult to sell advertising. Jones founded InfoWars in 1999 with his wife Kelly Jones, initially as a mail-order outlet for conspiracy videos. He supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential bid and his re-election, and spoke at the rally in Lafayette Square Park on January 6, 2021, that preceded the attack on the US Capitol. In 2026, Jones fell out with Trump over disagreements with the Iran War, criticizing it as contrary to the 'America First' message. In October 2022, juries in Connecticut and Texas awarded a total of $1.487 billion in damages to a first responder and families of victims for Jones's defamatory falsehoods about the Sandy Hook shooting. On December 2, 2022, Jones filed for personal bankruptcy, and after three years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeal without comment.

Reader's Guide

Alex Jones is a central figure in the spread of conspiracy theories and fake news in the United States. Since at least 2000, he has hosted The Alex Jones Show, which by 2010 attracted around two million listeners each week, and by 2011 had a larger online audience than Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh combined, according to Rolling Stone. His websites InfoWars and Banned.Video promote conspiracy theories; Banned.Video has provided a platform for white nationalists and neo-Nazis, serving as an 'entry point' to their ideology. Jones's allegations that the U.S. government concealed or falsified information about the Sandy Hook shooting, Parkland shooting, Oklahoma City bombing, and September 11 attacks have had real-world consequences, including harassment of victims' families and a landmark $1.487 billion defamation judgment. On the day of the 9/11 attacks, Jones said on his show there was a '98 percent chance this was a government-orchestrated controlled bombing.' He supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential bid and the attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and spoke at the January 6, 2021, rally. His syndicator, Genesis Communications Network, announced its shutdown effective May 5, 2024, citing financial losses. Jones's InfoWars store made $165 million in sales from September 2015 to the end of 2018, according to court filings. His products include dietary supplements, toothpaste, bulletproof vests, and 'brain pills.' In 2017, Labdoor, Inc tested six of his supplements, finding Survival Shield contained only iodine and Oxy-Powder comprised magnesium oxide and citric acid, casting doubt on marketing claims. The financial collapse of his syndicator and his personal bankruptcy in 2022 marked a decline, but his influence as a purveyor of disinformation remains significant.

Did You Know?

• Jones's father was a dentist from Austin and his mother was a homemaker; the family moved to Austin during his second year of high school.
• As a teenager, Jones read None Dare Call It Conspiracy by John Birch Society theorist Gary Allen, which he called 'the easiest-to-read primer on The New World Order.'
• On the day of the 9/11 attacks, Jones said on his show there was a '98 percent chance this was a government-orchestrated controlled bombing.'
• In 1999, Jones tied with Shannon Burke for 'Best Austin Talk Radio Host' in The Austin Chronicle poll.
• The InfoWars store made $165 million in sales from September 2015 to the end of 2018, according to court filings.