LimeWire has scooped up the notorious Fyre Festival model in an eyebrow-raising deal that merges two of the web’s most infamous names underneath one roof.

The acquisition, introduced by LimeWire CEO Julian Zehetmayr, follows a heated eBay public sale hosted by convicted fraudster and authentic Fyre Festival organizer Billy McFarland.

The sale included the whole lot from emblems and social media accounts to a Caribbean occasion website.

McFarland, who nonetheless owes $26 million in restitution, described the Fyre model as an “attention engine” and mentioned it may gasoline the whole lot from pop-ups to media ventures.

The public sale, held on July 15, 2025, became eBay’s most-watched non-charity listing during its run.

Despite 174 bids from 42 participants, McFarland sold the brand at a final price of $245,300.

Zehetmayr mentioned the corporate isn’t reviving the failed pageant however plans to reinvent the model with “real experiences, and without the cheese sandwiches.”

While the customer’s id remained secret at first, LimeWire revealed it had edged out opponents, together with Maximum Effort, the artistic company co-founded by actor Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds reacted to the loss with humor, saying he nonetheless plans to attend the primary occasion however “will be bringing my own palette of water.”

The 2017 Fyre Festival collapsed dramatically, leaving ticket holders stranded within the Bahamas with insufficient infrastructure, poor meals, and no performances.

The debacle impressed a number of documentaries and have become a logo of influencer extra and advertising and marketing gone mistaken.

LimeWire, as soon as a file-sharing large that was shut down in 2010 after a authorized battle with the Recording Industry Association of America, has been staging a comeback.

It relaunched in 2022 with a give attention to decentralized content material sharing and has attracted a brand new wave of customers.

COO Marcus Feistl mentioned LimeWire intends to flip the Fyre narrative. “We’re not here to repeat the mistakes — we’re here to own the meme and do it right,” he mentioned.

“Fyre became a symbol of everything that can go wrong. Now it’s our chance to show what happens when you pair cultural relevance with real execution.”

A waitlist for updates on the reimagined Fyre model is now open. The public sale formally transferred possession of the Fyre Festival model on July 15, 2025.

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