Con man Billy McFarland bags $19K to ‘own up’ to Fyre Fest fraud

For nearly $19,000, Billy McFarland is ready to spill the Fyre Festival beans in Germany.

McFarland, the infamous fraudster who bilked victims out of more than $26 million, will be jet-setting in April for an appearance at Entrepreneur University’s Founder Summit in Wiesbaden — where he intends to share his side of the 2017 fiasco, he told The Post.

“This is a way for me to own up to what went wrong,” McFarland, 31, said in an exclusive interview ahead of his 30-minute slot.

“The best live audience to do that in front of is the entrepreneurial crowd.”

Weeks ahead of the “part-cautionary, part-motivational” speech, McFarland said he’s ready to talk frankly about his experience to entrepreneurs — and pay down $7,492 of the $26 million he owes.

The rest will pay for hotel, air fare and taxes, with McFarland keeping $2,300 for himself after the April 15-16 trip to appear on the main stage of what’s billed as “Germany’s largest start-up and entrepreneur conference.”

Video from last year’s Founder Summit suggest it’s not the typical business conference: 7,000 aspiring leaders are greeted by cheerleaders for two days of high-energy speeches, strobe lights and on-stage dance shows.

Previous headliners at the event include Virgin billionaire Richard Branson, boxing legend Mike Tyson and German pop icon Dieter Bohlen — a multimillionaire who turned a hit singing career into being Germany’s version of Simon Cowell.

McFarland told The Post he’s received about a dozen invitations to entertainment and tech-related conferences in the United States, but wants to ingratiate himself with business minds.

“It’s a great opportunity to own this sh-t, too,” McFarland said. “To get up there in front of thousands of live entrepreneurs and say, ‘Guys, I totally f–ked up and here’s where I went wrong, so please don’t make these mistakes, too.’

“And there’s no better audience than a bunch of entrepreneurs to whom I can speak more technically about what went wrong, how I identified that behavior and what I learned from all of this.

“It’s the people whom I can speak the deepest to on the subject, and people who will get the most out of the conversation.

“So, before I did some more fun kind of conference talks, I felt like I had to do an entrepreneur one first and this opportunity made the most sense.”

District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald approved the trip on March 9, signing off on McFarland forking over just 40% of his $18,731 fee to victims.

He has made a total of 17 restitution payments since August, totaling roughly $31,000.

The German jaunt will leave McFarland owing $26,009,099 — meaning he’ll have to do 3,472 speaking slots at the same rate to pay back the victims of his infamous grift.

McFarland’s attorney, Harlan Protass, said he is “genuinely working hard” to rebuild his life and reputation.

“Of course, he also looks to earn enough to pay restitution to the victims of his offense,” Protass told The Post.

“In addition to work on a business in the technology and entertainment space, he will be participating in various media opportunities, including speaking engagements and television shows.”

But the convicted con man’s 30-minute appearance at the conference won’t be a walk in the park, one organizer told The Post.

“We want to ask him really critical questions about what happened in the past,” Entrepreneur University chief financial officer Huy Trinh said. “We want to get deep insights about what really happened to get the full picture. This is really important to us.”

McFarland, meanwhile, who in December detailed his next venture to The Post, will expound on entrepreneurship on the main stage at Wiesbaden’s RheinMain CongressCenter, where tickets start at $99.

“We want him to face really critical questions about himself, his business process regarding the Fyre Festival, his business partners, and the steps that he took,” Trinh said. “That will all be [covered].”

Entrepreneur University has created a “security concept” in case McFarland gets taunted or anything unexpected arises, Trinh said. “Are we expecting hecklers? Maybe — we don’t know.”

McFarland promised no topic will be off limits, Trinh said, particularly the Fyre Fest’s colossal collapse after buyers spent up to $100,000 on packages for the luxury getaway in the Bahamas that turned out to be a total bust.

In March 2018, McFarland, who organized the sham festival with rapper Ja Rule, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and got six years in prison — ultimately serving nearly four.

Promoted performances by acts like Pusha T and Blink-182 never happened and influencers who showed up for the two-weekend fest — promoted by models including Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski — found disaster relief tents instead of promised luxury accommodations.

As well as public speaking, McFarland has launched a dating site called mAIt, which uses AI “to bring your soulmAIt” to life and is working on a “virtual immersive decentralized reality” events business.

McFarland defended his money-making plans to The Post, saying: “Everything right now is to build a foundation for the next seven to 10 years.

“So many people ask me, ‘How are you going to pay $26 million dollars?’ And unfortunately, nobody’s offered $26 million dollars right now. The only way to ever get there is to build a solid foundation, get the best possible people around me and then do a really good job with the opportunities I do have.”