The fyre just won't die. Back in July, infamous Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland took to eBay to auction off the IP, trademarks, and assets of his beleaguered franchise on eBay. It sold for $245,300, a price McFarland evidently wasn't too pleased with: "This sucks," he said while livestreaming the auction close. "It’s so low." He did, however, tell audiences that the winner of the Fyre Fest auction was a brand people would be familiar with. Now it's official: LimeWire owns Fyre.
The news was shared today via a joint Instagram post from the Fyre Fest and LimeWire accounts, which also revealed that Ryan Reynolds was apparently one of the high bidders. For context, the LimeWire of today is not the same pirated music mecca it once was: The original 2000s LimeWire was shut down in 2010 after the company was inevitably found liable for copyright infringement, but it was relaunched in 2022 as an unrelated NFT marketplace with new owners. Strange times we live in. Here's the full statement on LimeWire's Fyre Fest acquisition:
Big news: Fyre Festival has officially been acquired by @limewire. What could possibly go wrong?
Two of the internet’s most infamous names are now under one roof - and no, this isn’t about repeating past mistakes. Together, two of the most talked-about names in internet history are starting a new chapter: built on transparency, tech, and a healthy dose of humor.
In fact, LimeWire secured the Fyre brand after a bidding war that even included Ryan Reynolds and his agency Maximum Effort.
Ryan Reynolds joked: “Congrats to LimeWire... I look forward to attending their first event but will be bringing my own palette of water.”
“We’re not bringing the festival back — we’re bringing the brand and the meme back to life. This time with real execution.” – Julian Zehetmayr, CEO of LimeWire
What’s next? Over the coming months, LimeWire will unveil a reimagined vision for Fyre - one that expands beyond the digital realm and taps into real-world experiences.
