The FTX founder spent millions on this
In November 2022, what was once the world’s largest crypto exchange had to file for bankruptcy. FTX no longer had sufficient reserves to service customer withdrawals.
All in all, billions of dollars are at stake. Company founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been accused of “epic” fraud by the US Attorney’s Office. Also, the FTX founder and his executives led an enormously lavish lifestyle.
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Last but not least, chaotic bookkeeping probably prevents Bankman-Fried and his colleagues from being able to keep track of expenses. And some of them were gigantic, as the court files show.
According to bankruptcy attorneys, Alameda Research, the hedge fund affiliated with FTX, took out a $65 billion loan from FTX. The money was largely spent on planes and real estate, parties and donations to politicians, writes Business Insider.
FTX invested a lot of money in real estate, for example. According to court documents, the company owns homes and condos worth over $250 million in the Bahamas alone.
Bankman-Fried was reportedly living in a $30 million penthouse in the Bahamas until his arrest. Another $15 million is said to have flowed into luxury hotels and accommodations in the Bahamas in just nine months.
Alameda co-CEO John Samuel Trabucco is said to have received a 16-meter yacht from FTX in addition to multi-million dollar real estate. Cost: $2.5 million. FTX also paid ex-basketball player Shaquille O’Neal to star in a commercial.
Even stranger, however, is an issue that combines an airline and Amazon packages. Because the e-commerce giant doesn’t ship to the Bahamas, where FTX’s headquarters are located, the crypto exchange struck a deal to provide private planes.
These should then fly the Amazon orders for the company and employees from a depot in Miami directly to the island. Between January and September 2022, $3.9 million was said to have been spent on flights alone, plus over $500,000 on postage and delivery.
Also amazing are the posts for food deliveries. According to the court documents, almost $360,000 flowed to the provider Doordash in just a few months. No wonder, considering that FTX US is said to have paid its employees $200 a day in Doordash meal vouchers.
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But that’s all peanuts when it comes to how much money FTX and Alameda are said to have paid their respective executives – namely $3.2 billion. According to lawyers, $2.2 billion of that went to Bankman-Fried personally.
