Billy McFarland, the controversial figure behind the infamous 2017 Fyre Festival, has officially sold the rights to the event’s brand on eBay for US$245,300. As reported by NY Daily News, the auction included intellectual property, trademarks, and social media accounts tied to the Fyre name, and drew 175 bids before concluding on Tuesday afternoon.
McFarland, who previously served four years in prison for wire fraud related to the original Fyre Festival, had attempted to relaunch the event multiple times without success. One such attempt was a promoted May 2025 revival in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The promotional campaign included a website, named producers and partners, and ticket packages priced between US$1,400 and US$1.1 million. However, the event quietly faded without any follow-through.
In a livestream during the eBay auction, McFarland appeared disappointed with the final result, commenting, “Damn. This sucks, it’s so low,” when bids surpassed US$240,000. According to Rolling Stone, the sale will barely make a dent in his outstanding US$26 million restitution order tied to his criminal conviction.
Following the original Fyre Festival disaster—which was chronicled in the Netflix documentary The Greatest Party That Never Happened and Hulu’s Fyre Fraud—McFarland insisted there was still public interest in the brand. In a 2024 interview with The Music Network podcast, he said, “The idea of Fyre 2 is still there. People want to escape reality for three days.”
In a more recent Instagram statement, McFarland announced his decision to step away, writing: “This brand is bigger than any one person. It’s clear that I need to step back and allow a new team to move forward independently.”
The identity of the buyer remains unknown.