How much money did billy mcfarland make from fyre festival

It was less than that. When Billy was 13 years old, he founded an online outsourcing startup that matched clients with web designers. But Magnises was only the amuse-bouche to Fyre Festival’s now-infamous bread and cheese sandwich thrown haphazardly in a styrofoam box. All Rights Reserved. The director said that McFarland still tried to come back with another offer.

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William Z. McFarland born December 11, [1] [2] is an American convicted fraudster who co-founded the ill-fated Fyre Festival. In latealong with rapper Ja RuleMcFarland co-founded the Fyre Festival, a luxury music festival intended to promote the Fyre app. The event was scheduled to take place in April—May but was aborted, after attendees had arrived, owing to issues with security, food, logistics, understaffing, accommodations, and talent relations. The following month, McFarland was arrested and charged with hw fraud in Manhattan federal court for his role in the organization of the festival. McFarland dropped out of college toward the end of his freshman year and founded the short-lived online mcfarlqnd platform Spling where he served as CEO.

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On the one hand, there were delightful doses of Schadenfreude ripe for the picking: images of rich people scrambling to hoard wet mattresses and crying over the cold cheese and plain bread that replaced the gourmet cuisine they had been promised when they spent obscene amounts of money on tickets. But there was a darker side to the story: hundreds of local contractors in the Bahamas, where the event was held, were completely ripped off after the festival dissolved into a catastrophe. Fyre co-founder Billy McFarland abandoned them without payment for months of labor when the whole thing went haywire. So while it was obviously easy fodder for Twitter jokes, the Fyre Festival saga also has plenty to do with class divides, the justice system, and, yes, the ways in which in which social-media obsession has led some people to prioritize image over reality—even when doing so comes at a steep psychological price. But more than anything, director Chris Smith sees his film as a character portrait of McFarland himself. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, when Smith reached out to the entrepreneur-turned-convicted fraudster for an interview, he received the most fitting response imaginable: Smith says McFarland initially agreed to film with Smith and his team, but after postponing on two different occasions, he changed his mind, saying he wanted to be paid for his appearance. And we said no.

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On the one mcfarlanc, there were delightful doses of Schadenfreude ripe maek the picking: images of rich people scrambling to hoard wet mattresses and crying over the cold cheese and plain bread that replaced the gourmet cuisine they had been promised when they spent obscene amounts of money on tickets.

But there was a darker side to the story: hundreds of local contractors in the Bahamas, where the event was held, were completely ripped off after the festival dissolved into a catastrophe. Fyre co-founder Billy McFarland abandoned them without payment for months of labor when the whole thing went haywire. So while how much money did billy mcfarland make from fyre festival was obviously easy fodder for Twitter jokes, the Fyre Festival saga also has plenty to do with class divides, the justice system, and, yes, the ways in which in which social-media obsession has led some people to prioritize image over reality—even when doing so comes juch a steep psychological price.

But fyrf than anything, director Chris Smith sees his film as a character portrait of McFarland. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, when Smith reached out to the entrepreneur-turned-convicted fraudster for an interview, he received the most fitting response imaginable: Smith says McFarland initially agreed to film with Smith and his how much money did billy mcfarland make from fyre festival, but after postponing on two different occasions, he changed his mind, saying he wanted to be paid for his appearance.

And mwke said no. I started to get worried [about] anything that he would be telling us—that it would be hard to really trust. A source confirmed to V. He always had an angle. And I think, in the end, it was just impossible for him to give up his story for free, because he just had to make a deal. It also offers a carefully reported, if completely vexed, portrait of McFarland.

And that led to this situation where he was able to build himself into this whiz-kid entrepreneur and raise kuch to build these companies, and ultimately build this festival.

Even knowing what they did about McFarland, it came as a surprise. The director thinks the fraudster really did want to give Fyre Festival attendees the time of their lives; he just completely failed in his efforts.

It became clear that Billy really wanted this to be a success, and wanted to be at the center of this world. Almost everyone Smith and his team interviewed were hesitant to appear on-camera, he said. Some were embarrassed about the role they had played in the fest; some were ashamed.

But Smith wanted to put a more human face on what happened. Viewers may be struck, however, to learn that Smith and his team partnered with Jerry Media and Matte Projects on this documentary—two companies that also worked on marketing for Fyre Festival.

Fyre Fraud co-director Jenner Furst pointed this out in a recent interview with the Ringersaying that the Netflix documentary committed a faux pas that is more serious than paying McFarland for an interview. According to Smith, this partnership played a crucial role in helping his movie secure the insider interviews it needed—especially with people who were worried about how they would look on-camera.

At no time did they, or any others we worked with, request favorable coverage in our film, which would be against our ethics. We stand behind our film, believe it is an unbiased and illuminating look at what happened, and look forward to sharing it with audiences around the world. Smith would prefer viewers pay attention to how devastating the Fyre Fest ordeal was for the hundreds of Bahamian contractors who worked around the clock in a vain feshival to make the event happen.

At least McFarland is no longer living large: this past October, he was sentenced to six years in prison. Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story. Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. More Great Stories from Vanity Fair. HWD Daily From the awards race to the box office, with everything in between: get the entertainment industry’s must-read newsletter.

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American Greed: Full Opening: The Fyre Festival Episode — CNBC Prime

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McFarland attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg where he studied computer engineering for less than 9 months. What will help his case? The director said that McFarland still tried to come back with another offer. Many demanded refunds and never got. Fyre Media touted a celebrity booking app that promised mvfarland connect users looking to book musical artists like Jay-Z and Beyonce for private events with the touch of a button. New York Times. July 1,