Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Friday, March 21. In today's briefing, a Texas bankruptcy judge ruled that no further auctions will be held for Infowars parent Free Speech Systems' assets, rejecting a bidder’s request to resume the process. Benson Hill filed for chapter 11 and looks to sell all or part of its business.

A Texas bankruptcy judge has ruled that there will be no more auctions of the assets of Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, Alex Jones’s conspiracy web platform.

In response to a recent request from one of the bidders in the previous auction to resume the bidding process, Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston said in his written order on Wednesday that, as he had made clear in a February hearing, he won’t reopen the auction for the Infowars assets. “Nothing has changed,” Lopez said.

Judge Lopez also stated that First United American, a business entity associated with Jones’s online shop, lacks standing under the bankruptcy code to request the sale of Infowars assets. A lawyer for the company didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

The Infowars assets were up for sale in a sealed-bid auction in December, but the process was suspended after Judge Lopez rejected the winning bidder, Global Tetrahedron, the parent company of the satirical news outlet The Onion, saying that the process failed to maximize the asset value.

First United, the runner-up bidder then increased its offer to $8 million, more than doubling its initial bid of $3.5 million. It also filed a motion, seeking to reopen the auction.

The assets also drew interest from WOW.AI, a Puerto Rico-based artificial-intelligence entertainment company. WOW.AI said its bid includes $3.5 million in cash, along with 51% of the total supply of $WARS meme coin, which will be held in a trustee-controlled wallet. Rick Latona, CEO of WOW.AI, also owns a web domain brokerage firm, giantpanda.com. A representative of WOW.AI didn't immediately return a request for comment Thursday. —Akiko Matsuda

Benson Hill said it plans to sell all or part of the business after filing for bankruptcy.

The agri-tech company said Thursday that it has filed voluntary petitions for relief under chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code in the U.S.

The company plans to sell the business in its entirety or in parts.

Benson Hill said it has received a commitment of around $11 million in debtor-in-possession financing while it continues to support its customers during the bankruptcy process.

Dan Jacobi, the company's chairman, said that the company had worked to transform the business by reducing costs, divesting assets, retiring debt and optimizing its operations.

"Despite our efforts, a combination of industry challenges and financial constraints has led the Board to determine that a process under Chapter 11 is the best path forward," Jacobi said. —Adriano Marchese

Default rate for U.S. private credit rose to 5.7% for the 12 months ending February 2025, up from 5% in January, according to Fitch Ratings’ analysis based on about 1,200 issuers.

Fitch recorded eight unique defaults in February, consistent with December and January, and nearly double the 2024 monthly average of 4.7 defaults.

Healthcare providers saw the highest number of defaults, with two in February and 11 over the TTM period, pushing the sector’s default rate to 7.5%. The consumer products sector’s rate rose to 7.6%, while the rate for the software technology sector fell to 6.7% with no new defaults. All eight defaults in February involved interest deferrals or conversions to payment-in-kind, with no uncured payment defaults. The top five sectors accounted for about half of the 65 unique defaults over the trailing 12-month period. —Jodi Klein

• States are eager to snap up cybersecurity workers sent packing in a wave of federal layoffs by DOGE, posting splashy recruiting ads and offering fast-track promotions and other benefits.
• As recession fears amp up, struggling businesses have one thing working in their favor: They have never been more adept at reordering their debts to avoid bankruptcy.
• Dairy farmers are putting “smart” devices on their cows to detect irregular patterns that could indicate bird flu and other diseases.
• Meet the real-life companies called Lumon (no severance procedure required).

President Trump on Thursday rescinded an executive order targeting Paul Weiss, as one of the nation’s top law firms bent to White House pressure and agreed to a series of concessions to avoid a client exodus.

The agreement between Paul Weiss and the White House includes a commitment by the firm to provide $40 million in pro bono legal services to support the administration’s initiatives, such as assisting veterans and fighting antisemitism.

Student loan borrowers were already facing a host of challenges. Now President Trump is moving to dismantle the agency that manages the loans.

The executive order Trump signed Thursday directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to facilitate the closure of the Education Department to the maximum extent possible and permitted by law. The department also cut nearly half its workforce earlier this month. Here’s what student loan borrowers should know. 

Share your tips, suggestions and feedback with the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy team: Soma Biswas; Alexander Gladstone; Jodi Xu Klein; Akiko Matsuda; Andrew Scurria; Becky Yerak. 

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