It’s only been five years since famed con artist Billy McFarland was sentenced to prison for defrauding investors, customers and locals in planning and executing the Fyre Festival in Exuma, Bahamas.
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But after his time, McFarland is back (and in his own opinion better than ever) and here to offer his services in his latest venture: a tech company called PYRT, which McFarland calls the “virtual immersive decentralized reality.”
He describes the technology as something “that brings together and connects people around the world, both virtually and physically. Once they are together, people can actually effect change in the real world.”
See also: ‘Failure is OK in Entrepreneurship’: Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland throws a big party after being released from prison
Pronounced pirate, PYRT will bring together groups of influential people (musicians, artists, content creators, entrepreneurs) and other investors in one real-world “small, remote location” and then launch a live, virtual replica of that location where anyone around the world can join and participate (sort of a metaverse/VR-like venue, though McFarland insists the technology isn’t a metaverse.)
@pyrtbilly For all those who love to hate me or sincerely support me… THIS is what I’ve been working on. THIS will clear the air. THIS IS PYRT @PYRT ♬ Super Gremlin – Kodak Black
Naturally, hundreds took to the comment section of McFarland’s (now called @PYRTBilly) TikTok announcement to voice their concerns.
“Come on,” one user said next to a crying laughing emoji. “This just can’t be true. Legend straight out of jail and on to the next hustle.”
“Billy I can’t possibly see how this could go wrong bro,” another joked.
Others offered support, suggesting that McFarland may be pursuing his “redemption arc.”
See also: Creator of Doomed Fyre Festival gets 6 years in prison
“I’m oddly rooting for you,” said one encouragingly. “Don’t mess this up. You have 1 chance. Go crush it.”
On Monday, McFarland announced that interested candidates could apply to work for the company to become part of the “PYRT Crew,” one of those positions being an app developer who could point out where McFarland will ultimately use this virtual platform in the future. see living.
Do you want to work with us? We are hiring for PYRT, apply via BountyHunterWorld.com/pyrt for a chance to get the job before the other Billy, Billy Football does
Although the PYRT website is still in the development phase, McFarland has wasted no time on it selling merchandise for those he hopes to join his platform, in the form of a $249.00 PYRT Crew jacket.
PYRT ‘crew’ members are promised “immediate daily access to Billy and other PYRT crew” through the Discord app, “experimental adventures” such as dinners, flights, trips, etc. and first access to the platform when it actually goes live .
The former creator of Fyre was originally sentenced to six years in prison in 2018, but ended up serving four years, plus six months of house arrest.
Related: Anna Delvey to Star in Reality Show While on House Arrest
In September last year, he be fourth release from his halfway house by throwing a cocktail party at New York hot spot Marylou.
He had alluded to a future in the tech space in an interview with the New York Times upon his release.
“The good thing about technology is that people are so progressive and more prone to take risks,” he says. told the outlet. “If I worked in finance, I think it would be harder to come back. Technology is more open. And the way I failed is totally wrong, but in a sense, failure is okay in entrepreneurship.”
McFarland is currently repaying fraud victims a total of $26 million in restitution.
