A US judge on Friday approved the liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' personal assets, media reports said, setting the stage for the repayment of nearly $1.5 billion in damages he owes the victims of a school mass shooting.

The ruling by a bankruptcy court in Houston throws into doubt the future of Jones's far-right website InfoWars -- long notorious for peddling misinformation -- which dangled the prospect of a "potential last broadcast" on Friday.

The serial provocateur had been ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages for calling a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in the state of Connecticut –- which left 20 first graders and six adults dead -- a "hoax."

But Jones subsequently declared personal bankruptcy in Texas, his home state, saying his liabilities far exceeded his assets that were worth between $1 million and $10 million. Free Speech Systems, the Texas-based parent company of InfoWars, also declared bankruptcy.

The judge on Friday allowed Jones to convert his personal bankruptcy case into a straightforward liquidation, but was yet to rule on whether his company should also be liquidated, US media reported.

The ruling means many of Jones' personal assets -- including a Texas ranch worth about $2.8 million -- will be sold off to help pay the debts, but some assets such as his home in the Austin area are exempt from bankruptcy liquidation, reports said.

Jones has been warning his vast right-wing audience that his company is on the verge of being shut down. On Friday, one headline on his website read: "This could be THE LAST broadcast of Infowars! DO NOT miss this!"

Misinformation profiteer

Jones, widely branded as a misinformation profiteer, has amassed what experts call a fortune by successfully merging the conspiracy theories with merchandise and dietary supplements from his InfoWars store.

The site hawked male vitality supplements and testosterone boosters, while claiming the government was feminizing men or turning them gay by using chemical pollutants.

Jones accused the government of deliberately putting fluoride in drinking water, while his store peddled fluoride-free toothpaste.

His audience, he claimed, can survive various doomsday scenarios with other products that his store can supply -- storable food, body armour and even components for homemade guns.

The lucrative trade, misinformation experts say, highlights the financial incentive of content creators to push out conspiratorial material that has potential to go viral.

Experts say that showcases the challenge of curbing misinformation on the internet, where false and inflammatory content often spreads faster, generates more engagement -- and more revenue -– than the truth.

US citizens and pro-democracy groups are now increasingly using defamation lawsuits as a tool to hold misinformation spreaders accountable.

There was no immediate reaction from the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

The families say they have been harassed and threatened for years by Jones's fans, with strangers showing up at their homes to confront them and hurling abuse online. 

Some even reported receiving rape and death threats.