Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly gave himself a $300 million windfall final yr when his then-red-hot cryptocurrency alternate secured an enormous fundraising spherical.
FTX raised $420,690,000 million from 69 totally different traders – each numbers clear nods to meme tradition – throughout a Collection B-1 financing spherical accomplished in October 2021. Members included funding giants comparable to Sequoia Capital in addition to the Ontario Academics’ Pension Plan Board.
Of the large whole, $300 million went to Bankman-Fried after he bought a portion of his private stake in FTX, the Wall Road Journal reported Friday, citing monetary data and folks accustomed to the transaction.
In a press launch on the time, Bankman-Fried mentioned FTX was “in a position to companion with traders that prioritize positioning FTX because the world’s most clear and compliant cryptocurrency alternate.”
The 30-year-old reportedly informed traders the cash was a partial reimbursement after he purchased out rival platform Binance’s stake in FTX some months earlier.
The Journal mentioned it was unable to find out what Bankman-Fried did with the $300 million – although a 2021 monetary assertion mentioned the corporate stored the funds for “operational expediency” on behalf of a “associated get together.”
On the time, FTX was valued at a whopping $25 billion – a valuation that fully evaporated by final week, when the platform abruptly filed for chapter. In the meantime, Bankman-Fried’s private fortune plummeted from $16 billion to successfully zero in a matter of days.
Sequoia Capital revealed a publish on its web site referring to the FTX’s fundraising as a “meme spherical,” in accordance with the Wall Road Journal. The numbers “420” and “69” are references to marijuana use and oral intercourse, respectively.
Right here’s the most recent protection on the collapse of crypto large FTX
Sequoia Capital was lately pressured to make the worth of its funding in FTX right down to zero.
Bankman-Fried’s dealing with of FTX’s funds is below intense authorized and regulatory scrutiny following the platform’s chapter. The ex-CEO funneled $10 billion in FTX shopper funds to Alameda Analysis, the sister cryptocurrency buying and selling agency he additionally owned. No less than $1 billion of that cash remains to be lacking.
New FTX CEO John Ray III blasted the corporate’s previous governance in a court docket submitting on Thursday, declaring he had by no means seen “such an entire failure of company controls and such an entire absence of reliable monetary info as occurred right here.” Ray is an insolvency knowledgeable who helped steer notorious vitality agency Enron by way of its troubled chapter.
Ray mentioned FTX would perform a “complete, clear and deliberate investigation into claims in opposition to Mr. Samuel Bankman-Fried” and his co-founders whereas continuing with the chapter.
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