A TikToker With 265K Followers Just Crowdfunded $337M to Buy Spirit Airlines

A TikTok creator with 265,000 followers just turned a half-joking video into $337 million in nonbinding pledges to buy a dead airline. Hunter Peterson, an LA-based voice actor who built a niche flying Spirit Airlines for 24 hours straight, has pulled 371,552 verified pledgers behind his Green Bay Packers-style co-op plan to resurrect the ultra-low-cost carrier eight days after it shut down.

⚡ Key Takeaways

Hunter Peterson, a TikTok creator with ~265K followers, has pulled $337M in nonbinding pledges from 371,552 verified pledgers in 8 days to buy bankrupt Spirit Airlines.
His original 'let's nationalize Spirit' TikTok cleared 7M views; the site crashed past $23M on day one and hit $88M by day two.
Spirit shut down May 2, 2026 at 3 a.m. ET, putting ~17,000 people out of work after a $500M federal bailout collapsed in its second bankruptcy in under two years.
The campaign pitches a Green Bay Packers-style fan-owned co-op called Spirit 2.0: $45 minimum pledge, $1.75B target valuation, one-person-one-vote governance.
Spirit's 5,500-member AFA-CWA flight attendant union has publicly backed the campaign; an aviation M&A firm reportedly told Peterson the plan is 'doable.'
The takeaway: more pledgers than followers is a ratio that only happens when an audience trusts a creator enough to back them with capital, not just likes.

What actually happened?

Spirit Airlines ceased operations at 3 a.m. ET on May 2, 2026, killing 53 years of orange-and-yellow flying after a $500 million federal bailout request collapsed and the carrier's second bankruptcy in under two years finally caught up with it. Roughly 17,000 workers lost their jobs that morning per CNN Business. Within hours, Peterson posted a TikTok proposing the public buy the dead airline back, and that clip has now pulled more than 7 million views per Rolling Stone.

He stood up letsbuyspiritair.com pitching a fan-owned co-op called Spirit 2.0, modeled on the Green Bay Packers, with a $45 minimum pledge (roughly the price of a Spirit one-way) and a $1.75 billion target valuation per Aeronautics Magazine. The site reportedly crashed past $23 million in pledges on day one. By day two it cleared $88 million. By Saturday, May 10, the audited total hit $337 million from 371,552 verified pledgers per Fox Business.

Why does this matter for creators?

This is the cleanest stress test the creator economy has gotten on whether audience trust is monetizable beyond merch and subs. Peterson has roughly 265,000 TikTok followers per DesignRush News, yet he converted 371,552 verified financial commitments out of that audience inside a week. That means more pledgers than followers, a ratio that only happens when fans are willing to put capital behind a creator's worldview, not just hit a like button.

Eight days, no PR firm, no agency, no press release. The old creator-economy stack of ad rev share, brand sponsorships, and the occasional Kickstarter cameo was never designed to mobilize this much capital this fast around one person, and platforms still skimming 15 to 20 percent off the top should be paying attention.

"This started as a joke and this is rapidly going out of control in the best possible way."
Hunter Peterson, TikTok creator, in a follow-up video as pledges crossed eight figures

Where does this go from here?

The campaign now has real institutional weight behind it. Spirit's 5,500-member AFA-CWA flight attendant union has publicly backed the plan per NBC News, and Peterson says he has lined up legal counsel and a fund to actually structure a bid. An aviation M&A advisory firm reportedly told him the proposed buyout was "doable" per Fox Business.

The hard part is conversion. None of the $337 million has actually been collected; the pledges are nonbinding intents. Spirit's planes are already being repossessed in bankruptcy court while the big carriers fight over the gates. Whether Peterson can turn pledges into wired capital before there is nothing left of Spirit to buy is the open question, and the answer will shape how seriously the next viral 'let's buy a thing' moment gets taken.

What does Fanvault think?

At Fanvault we read this as the receipt the creator economy has been chasing since 2020. A creator with 265,000 followers converting his audience into 371,552 verified financial commitments inside a week is proof that fans will fund a creator's worldview directly when the ask is concrete and the rails are creator-owned. That is exactly the thesis behind our 8% take rate, our 92% creator share, and the on-profile storefront with paywalled posts, paid DMs, wishlists, tips, and authenticated memorabilia auctions. Creators should not need a once-in-a-decade viral moment to turn audience trust into income, and competitors still skimming 15 to 20 percent should expect the fee math to keep getting harder to defend.

The pledges are still pledges. The math is still the math. The new question for every creator and every platform watching this play out is whether 265,000 followers and a real plan now beats a $500 million government check.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Hunter Peterson?

Hunter Peterson is an LA-based voice actor (credits include Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Honkai: Star Rail, and Smite 2) and aviation TikToker with roughly 265,000 TikTok followers and about 850,000 combined across TikTok and Instagram per DesignRush News. He built his niche on stunt aviation content, including a 24-hour straight Spirit Airlines marathon, and is reportedly a former MrBeast employee. The Spirit 2.0 buyout campaign is the largest fan-led capital mobilization tied to a single creator's video so far in 2026.

How much money has been pledged to buy Spirit Airlines?

As of Saturday, May 10, 2026, the audited total stood at $337 million across 371,552 verified pledgers on letsbuyspiritair.com per Fox Business. The site reportedly crashed past $23 million in pledges on its first day of traffic and cleared $88 million by day two. Peterson's stated target valuation is $1.75 billion, with a minimum pledge of $45 per person, roughly the price of a one-way Spirit fare.

Is the $337 million actually real money?

Not yet. The pledges are explicitly nonbinding intents to fund a future bid, not collected capital. Peterson has been clear in follow-up videos that the site is not accepting payments, and that the pledger count is meant to demonstrate seriousness to potential partners, lenders, and the bankruptcy court. Whether those pledges convert into wired capital before Spirit's assets are fully picked apart is the open question that decides whether Spirit 2.0 becomes a real bid or a viral moment.

Why did Spirit Airlines shut down?

Spirit ceased operations at 3:00 a.m. ET on May 2, 2026 after its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in under two years and a failed $500 million federal bailout request per NPR. The carrier's 2025 turnaround plan assumed jet fuel at roughly $2.24 per gallon, but actual prices on the shutdown date averaged $4.51 per gallon, more than double plan per Fortune. About 17,000 people lost their jobs the morning of the shutdown, including 14,000 Spirit employees.

What is the Green Bay Packers-style ownership model Peterson is proposing?

Spirit 2.0 would be structured as a community-owned cooperative where members vote one-person-one-vote on routes, leadership, and strategic direction, the same structure that has kept the Packers in Green Bay since the 1920s per Aeronautics Magazine. The pitch is that fans, not private equity, would own the airline outright. Spirit's 5,500-member AFA-CWA flight attendant union has publicly backed the campaign per NBC News, and Peterson says he has secured a legal fund to structure an actual bid.