Did you know that you can pay back $26 million USD worth of debt by vaguely pledging to do "something tech-based"? Neither did we, until Billy McFarland (somewhat) detailed his next steps in giving reparations to Fyre Festival attendees.
Sitting down with The New York Times, the fest's founder lamented about his shortened prison stint, as well as his plans to get into tech to help pay off his debt — as his earnings will be subjected to legal garnishment until he pays out the quarter-plus billion dollars he owes.
"I'd like to do something tech-based," he said. "The good thing with tech is that people are so forward-thinking, and they're more apt at taking risk. If I worked in finance, I think it would be harder to get back. Tech is more open. And the way I failed is totally wrong, but in a certain sense, failure is OK in entrepreneurship."
Despite being barred for life from being a director of any public company, McFarland's goals may include him starting his own anyway. "At the end of the day, I think I could probably create the most value by building some sort of tech product," he continued. "Whether that's within a company or by starting my own company, I'm open to both. I'll probably decide in the next couple of weeks which path to go do."
While vague, this is the most we've gotten out of McFarland about how he intends to repay the attendees of the chaos-filled festival in some time. After being released from prison four years into his six-year sentence on multiple counts of fraud, he allegedly doesn't have tons of money in the bank.
So far, Fyre Fest participants have only seen $281 from a class action lawsuit that was supposed to award them $7,220 each.
If there's any mercy to be had, it's that McFarland says he isn't too interested in crypto, meaning we will (hopefully) be spared of McNFTs — unlike the onslaught from Fyre Fest's right-hand-man Ja Rule.
Sitting down with The New York Times, the fest's founder lamented about his shortened prison stint, as well as his plans to get into tech to help pay off his debt — as his earnings will be subjected to legal garnishment until he pays out the quarter-plus billion dollars he owes.
"I'd like to do something tech-based," he said. "The good thing with tech is that people are so forward-thinking, and they're more apt at taking risk. If I worked in finance, I think it would be harder to get back. Tech is more open. And the way I failed is totally wrong, but in a certain sense, failure is OK in entrepreneurship."
Despite being barred for life from being a director of any public company, McFarland's goals may include him starting his own anyway. "At the end of the day, I think I could probably create the most value by building some sort of tech product," he continued. "Whether that's within a company or by starting my own company, I'm open to both. I'll probably decide in the next couple of weeks which path to go do."
While vague, this is the most we've gotten out of McFarland about how he intends to repay the attendees of the chaos-filled festival in some time. After being released from prison four years into his six-year sentence on multiple counts of fraud, he allegedly doesn't have tons of money in the bank.
So far, Fyre Fest participants have only seen $281 from a class action lawsuit that was supposed to award them $7,220 each.
If there's any mercy to be had, it's that McFarland says he isn't too interested in crypto, meaning we will (hopefully) be spared of McNFTs — unlike the onslaught from Fyre Fest's right-hand-man Ja Rule.
