🏝️ Fyre Festival's Billy McFarland: $26M forfeited, brand sold
He served under four years of a six-year sentence, then tried Fyre II, an eBay auction and a Honduras reboot. The new owner hasn't said what's next. ⏳
By MrMoney, business desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 4 min read
FORFEITEDPhoto: Ian Moran (I to Z Photo + Video) · CC BY-SA 3.0By the numbers
- 4y 11mfrom first to latest entry on record
- 8receipts behind this story
Billy McFarland's Fyre Festival cost investors and ticket holders real money, and the record of what happened to him afterward is just as documented: a six-year sentence, a $26 million forfeiture order, an SEC settlement, and two more festivals he tried to launch from the wreckage. Here is the paper trail, in order.
What we know
- McFarland pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in March 2018 and was sentenced to six years in federal prison on October 11, 2018.
- The court ordered him to forfeit $26 million; the SEC separately settled with him for disgorgement of $27.4 million raised from more than 100 investors.
- A $100 million class action was filed by ticket holder Daniel Jung through lawyer Mark Geragos; two North Carolina attendees won a separate $5 million judgment against McFarland in absentia.
- Released early in March 2022 after serving under four years, McFarland announced Fyre Festival II - officials in Isla Mujeres and later Playa del Carmen, Mexico, said in 2025 they had no record of any such event.
- McFarland auctioned the Fyre brand on eBay in July 2025 for $245,300, then staged a smaller festival called PHNX on Utila, Honduras, in December 2025.
The setup
The influencer campaign
The $100 million class-action complaint named Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski, saying the models used their social media accounts "to generate ticket sales," Variety reported. The festival had been advertised with an Instagram video featuring Hadid, Hailey Baldwin and Ratajkowski, according to BBC News.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)April 2017 - tents, cheese sandwiches and a cancelled festival
Attendees who had paid thousands of dollars for luxury villas arrived to USAID disaster-relief tents and pre-packaged cheese sandwiches, CNBC reported. The festival was postponed and then cancelled; organizers apologized and offered full refunds, and the Fyre account posted, "We owe you an apology," per BBC News and Pitchfork.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)The case
April 30, 2017 - the first $100 million lawsuit
Ticket holder Daniel Jung sued McFarland and Ja Rule for $100 million days after the collapse, with lawyer Mark Geragos seeking class-action status for more than 150 plaintiffs, Variety reported. The suit, filed in federal court in California, sought a minimum of $100 million in damages for fraud, breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)July 2017 - charged, out on bail, and a second scheme
McFarland was charged with wire fraud over Fyre and was on pretrial release from July 1, 2017, the Justice Department said in announcing his sentence. While on that release he ran a separate ticket scheme, NYC VIP Access, purporting to sell tickets to events including the 2018 Met Gala, Burning Man and Coachella that did not exist - conduct that became part of the criminal case.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)March 2018 - the guilty plea
McFarland pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to two counts of wire fraud, admitting he used fake documents to induce investors and a ticket vendor to put more than $26 million into his company, the Justice Department said. He consented to a forfeiture order of about $26 million.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)July 3, 2018 - a $5 million default judgment
Two North Carolina men who attended the festival, Seth Crossno and Mark Thompson, were awarded $5 million in damages against McFarland - $1.5 million each in compensatory and $1 million each in punitive damages - after the judgment was granted in absentia when he failed to respond to the proceedings, Variety reported. Ja Rule was initially named in the suit but removed as a defendant after a separate agreement.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)July 24, 2018 - the SEC settlement
The Securities and Exchange Commission said McFarland agreed to settle charges over an offering fraud that raised at least $27.4 million from over 100 investors, including by giving investors a doctored brokerage statement showing stock holdings of over $2.5 million when the account held shares worth under $1,500. He admitted the SEC's allegations, agreed to disgorge $27.4 million and accepted a permanent officer-and-director bar.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)October 11, 2018 - six years
McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison, as Bloomberg and the Justice Department reported. He was released after serving less than four years.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)What he tried next
March 30, 2022 - released to a halfway house
McFarland was released early from prison on March 30, 2022 and placed in a halfway house, with his sentence set to end around August 30 in home confinement or a residential reentry center, HuffPost and Billboard reported. Months later he resurfaced with a treasure-hunt venture called PYRT; the Bahamas said it considered him a "fugitive" and would not endorse any event associated with him, Gizmodo reported.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)2023-2025 - Fyre Festival II sells tickets no one can use
McFarland announced Fyre Festival II in 2023, and by 2025 was selling tickets priced from $1,400 to as much as $1.1 million each for a late-May 2025 run on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, the Guardian reported. Isla Mujeres tourism officials said they had no knowledge of it - "for us, this is an event that does not exist" - and Playa del Carmen later said there was "no record or planning" of any such event; organizers postponed the festival indefinitely in April 2025.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)July 2025 - the brand sells for $245,300
McFarland auctioned the Fyre brand - its IP, trademarks and social media assets - on eBay in July 2025, drawing 175 bids from 42 bidders and selling for $245,300, NBC News reported. Weeks later the buyer was revealed as LimeWire, the former file-sharing service now running an NFT business, NBC News reported.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)"Damn. This sucks, it's so low."
Billy McFarland, as the Fyre brand's eBay bidding passed $240,000, per NBC News, July 2025
December 2025 - PHNX, a smaller festival on Utila
McFarland staged PHNX - pronounced "Phoenix" - a two-day festival on Utila, an island off Honduras, over a December 2025 weekend, with French Montana headlining, general admission at $599 and VIP passes up to $140,000 that included a round-trip flight from Miami, Business Insider reported. The event drew dozens of attendees; McFarland said in a statement he had "set out to bring 400 people."
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)That's the record. The rest is rumour. - Mr Scandal
Quick quiz · 3 questions
Earlier on file: Biggest creator scandals ranked: MrBeast suit first, Fyre second
The Billy McFarland file
- Filed
Released early from prison to a halfway house on March 30, 2022 This story
- Ruled
Sentencing in US v. McFarland This story
- Ruled
SEC settlement: McFarland admitted the allegations, agreed to $27.4M disgorgement and a permanent officer-and-director bar (subject to court approval) This story
- Ruled
Civil judgment, Crossno v. McFarland This story
- Ruled
Sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud over Fyre Festival, per Oxygen citing the AP. Biggest creator scandals ranked: MrBeast suit first, Fyre second
- Filed
Class-action complaint, Jung v. McFarland and Ja Rule This story
On file: The Billy McFarland file
The Ledger
On the record
- Convicted on two counts of wire fraud; sentenced to six years on October 11, 2018; ordered to forfeit $26 million and separately agreed to SEC disgorgement of $27.4 million.
- Released early on March 30, 2022, after serving under four years; sold the Fyre brand on eBay in July 2025, and staged a smaller festival, PHNX, in Honduras in December 2025.
Still rumour
- Whether the 2025 Fyre Festival II ever had a venue agreement in place before officials in Isla Mujeres and Playa del Carmen said they had no record of it.
- What LimeWire, the buyer of the Fyre brand, intends to do with it.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrMoney
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