Who lost money on FTX? Tom Brady, Kevin O'Leary and more

March 29, 2024 inspirechat.net Entrepreneurship 0 Comments


Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Additional reporting from Sherin Shibu.

The fall of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX The crypto empire was not only felt by those deep in the crypto community – some big name entrepreneurs and celebrities also lost a lot of money.

Although SBF allegedly led investors to believe that it could bring them high returns with little risk, more than a million people may have been affected by the collapse, and young crypto spenders quickly discovered that crypto trading is not for the faint of heart.

CONNECTED: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for billion dollar crypto fraud

In NovemberBankman Fried was found guilty in seven charges of fraud, embezzlement and criminal conspiracy for orchestrating “one of the largest financial frauds in American history” after a bank exposed an $8 billion hole in the company's accounts and a piggy bank relationship with crypto trading firm Alameda Research .

Bankman-Fried was CONVICTED on Thursday in a Manhattan federal court to 25 years in prison.

Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan said that Bankman-Fried was “extremely bright” and agreed with prosecutors that Bankman-Fried “wanted to be an extremely politically influential person in this country.”

Kaplan DECLARING that total losses to victims of the Bankman-Fried crimes exceeded $550 million and that investors lost billions.

Meanwhile, FTX's new CEO John Ray, who joined SBF after the company filed for bankruptcy, said the company has found $5 billion in cash and other assets, and while they're not done disclosing the unearthed funds, they plan to sell above $4.6 as well. billion in additional holdings as well.

It is unclear how the recovered funds will be divided, but typically in bankruptcy proceedings, only bondholders are entitled to recover part of their losses, while those with equity shares are left at a loss, according to Markets Insider.

Sequoia Capital is likely to suffer the biggest loss for an outside investor in the stock market with its $200 million investment peaking at $350 million in January 2022, according to data obtained by Forbes.

CONNECTED: Who is FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried?

While Sequoia reportedly told investors its investment in FTX was offset by $7.5 billion in realized and unrealized gains, Singapore investment firm Temasek was not so lucky.

The company reportedly invested $210 million for 1% of FTX and $65 million for 1.5% of FTX US, but has since set its stake at zero.

In addition, investment company Paradigm reportedly invested $215 million, while the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan invested $75 million and has since marked its investment to zero.

Here's a look at some of the famous faces who lost big in the FTX crypto collapse.

Tom Brady

Tom Brady is the most famous face to promote and invest in FTX – and he may also have suffered the biggest individual loss. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback owned more than 1.1 million shares of FTX Trading common stock, which were worth about $45 million before the company filed for bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.

While his investment is now zero on the brink of collapse, he previously defended the exchange and appeared in several promotional ads with his now ex-wife Gisele Bündchen.

Gisele Bundchen

Along with her ex-husband Tom Brady, the supermodel also lost a significant portion of her fortune in the exchange. Bündchen reportedly owned 680,000 FTX shares, which were valued at about $25 million.

Kevin O'Leary

The Shark Tank entrepreneur was a staunch advocate for SBF's FTX before the crypto exchange crash. Like one paid spokesperson for the company, O'Leary owned 32,000 shares of FTX and 110,000 shares of FTX US. He said his stake was valued at $1 million during a US Senate Banking Committee hearing in December, adding that since “deleted them to zero.”

O'Leary said CNBC's “Squawk Box.” in December that he was paid around $15 million to act as a paid spokesperson for the brand and drop just under $10 million into the crypto exchange. But he said his investment in crypto is now equal to zero.

Robert Kraft

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft also fell victim to FTX. He reportedly owned about 630,000 total shares related to FTX through KPC Venture Capital LLC, an entity affiliated with the Kraft Group.

Using O'Leary's estimate, the NFL team owner may have lost an eight-figure investment.

Robert Belfer

Billionaire oil baron Robert Belfer, who was once known as the heir to the bankrupt gas company Enron, also reportedly lost millions in the collapse of FTX. Two firms linked to the Belfer family held stakes in FTX and FTX US with a combined stake of $34.5 million, according to court documents obtained by Financial Times. Belfer was also visibly confused Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme.

Anthony Scaramucci

Donald Trump's former communications director also ended up in the collapse of FTX with his alternative investment company, SkyBridge Capital. Last September, FTX bought 30% of SkyBridge capital, for Streetand while the details of the deal are not known, Scaramucci said he was also at a loss despite the purchase.

“We lost money overall because the overall portfolio is falling as a result of this debacle, so yes, I think so,” he said when asked about the collapse in November at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.

CONNECTED: “I didn't steal funds and I certainly didn't hide billions”: Sam Bankman-Fried speaks for the first time since his arrest

Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry was one of many celebrities to endorse FTX with its various advertisements and its 2021 partnership with the brand. Like Brady and Bündchen, Curry also received a stake in FTX for his work with the company.

Curry's team, The Golden State Warriors also became involved in the scandal after FTX agreed to pay $10 million for an international right. sponsorship deal which gave the token exchange in the area, exclusive branding and rights to the team's NFTs in December 2021.

Curry is also named in a class-action lawsuit alleging that celebrities who endorsed FTX participated in deceptive strategies to “instill confidence and induce consumers to invest in what was ultimately a Ponzi scheme,” according to the lawsuit.

Sam Bankman-Fried, Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Kevin O'Leary, Shaquille O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, William Trevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani, Naomi Osaka, and Larry David were also mentioned in the lawsuit.

Naomi Osaka

Tennis star Naomi Osaka also signed a long-term partnership deal with FTX in March that was supposed to help bring women into the crypto world, according to Reuters. She was given an equity stake in the company and received compensation in the form of crypto.

David Ortiz

Red Sox baseball legend David Ortiz also signed on to be an FTX ambassador in October 2021 and agreed to be compensated in cryptocurrency, according to CoinDesk. At that time, he agreed to release a lot NFT collections, while FTX agreed to sponsor the David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic and donate to the David Ortiz Children's Fund. It is unclear whether the fund will be required to repay the donations if it is found that they were made with the client's money.

Check out our Dirty Money Podcast for our take Crypto Crook Sam Bankman-Fried.





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