Patrick M. Byrne

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Patrick Michael Byrne (born November 29, 1962) is an American businessman, promoter of conspiracy theories, and libertarian noted for his views on public education and blockchain. In 1999, Byrne launched Overstock.com (currently Beyond, Inc.) after leading two smaller companies. Byrne led Overstock as chief executive officer for two decades, from 1999 to 2019. In 2002, Byrne took Overstock public using the Dutch auction method, which was then novel. Early in his Overstock tenure, Byrne attracted public attention for a long-running legal battle against naked short selling. Later, he resigned as CEO in August 2019, following revelations that he had been in an intimate relationship with Russian agent (and later politician) Maria Butina. Since then Byrne has emerged as a leading figure in promoting conspiracy theories, including the "Deep State" conspiracy theory. In 2020 and 2021, he repeatedly promoted false claims that Donald Trump had lost the 2020 U.S. presidential election due to "election fraud." He has also toured the United States in order to provide anti-vaccination stump speeches for COVID-19 conspiracy theorists. He became notable for distributing and selling misinformation on various subject matters via websites, social media, books, and film. He has suffered legal consequences for his misinformation activities.