Billy McFarland completes sale of Fyre Festival for shockingly low fee on eBay
After listing it on eBay last week, Billy McFarland has sold the Fyre Festival brand for just $245,000.
Last week, McFarland took to Instagram to announce his plans to sell Fyre Festival on the online auction house, claiming it was his “craziest” idea yet, confidently sharing with his legion of followers, “Today I am taking the most famous festival brand, Fyre Festival, and putting it up for auction on eBay starting at one cent.”
The auction quickly got off to a fast start, and within 24 hours of Fyre Festival being listed on eBay, the highest bid on eBay was already over $200,000. Unfortunately for McFarland, the price didn’t continue to grow at such an exponential rate, and the victorious bid was only $245,000.
According to NBC, McFarland was live-streaming the final portion of the auction, and honestly remarked when it ended, “Damn. This sucks, it’s so low.”
Although McFarland didn’t reveal who bought Fyre Festival, the mysterious buyer’s name did raise a smile from the festival founder, who admitted, “It’s funny.”
McFarland is now looking to turn a corner with his life and leave Fyre Festival in the past, writing on social media, “Fyre Festival is just one chapter of my story, and I’m excited to move onto my next one.”
He continued: “The auction became the most-watched non-charity listing on eBay during its run, proving once again that attention is currency, and views are the root of attention. That belief is at the core of what I’m building next: a tech platform designed to capture and power the value behind every view online.”
The eBay listing offered access to social media accounts, brand name, email lists, artists relationships, and a Caribbean festival location option.
It also said of the business: “Since 2017, Fyre Festival has dominated global headlines, generating over 32 billion online impressions — more than any other US festival brand. Now, the Fyre brand is for sale — a rare opportunity to acquire a globally recognized media engine with unmatched viral equity.”
Fyre Festival 2 was scheduled to take place in Mexico earlier this year. However, it was cancelled due to a series of major complications, such as securing artists to perform and a location to host the event.
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