Sam Bankman-Fried

The saga of Sam Bankman-Fried ‘s bankrupt crypto empire isn’t just about collapsing tokens, missing billions and sunny offshore tax havens. There were also red flags in its books.At the core of FTX Trading Ltd.’s financial statements was a series of related-party transactions. But the company didn’t say who those parties were.  On its balance sheet, the largest asset as of Dec. 31 was a “related party receivable” valued at $1.2 billion, or 44% of its assets. Its liabilities included a $362…

John J. Ray III, the new FTX CEO in charge of handling the company’s bankruptcy, wrote this was the one of the worst cases he’s had to struggle through, calling it ‘a complete failure of corporate controls.’Photo: Sergei Elagin (Shutterstock)Just how bad do you have to be for a 40-year veteran of corporate undoings to call you one of the most faulty, most compromised entities he’s ever seen? John J. Ray III was tapped to handle the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of FTX’s multiple major corporate entities. In his latest…

The founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, said he regretted his decision to file for bankruptcy and, in an interview published by Vox, criticized regulators. The founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, said he regretted his decision to file for bankruptcy and, in an interview published by Vox, criticized regulators.Bankman-Fried said later on Twitter that the basis of the interview, an exchange of messages on the same platform, was not supposed to be public. The collapsed…

Photo: Alex Wong (Getty Images)Once upon a time, the cryptocurrency exchange FTX was a jewel of the web3 world. Now, in the span of a week, its reputation has transformed from shooting star to sinking ship. After admitting to mismanaging large amounts of customer money, the exchange’s founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (also known by his initials “SBF”) ignominiously stepped down, and the company filed for bankruptcy. Now, as the dust settles and the air clears, the adults in the room are trying to pick up the pieces and…

Sam Bankman-Fried’s spectacular flameout illustrates just about everything that’s wrong with crypto markets. In one sense, investors and regulators should be grateful to Sam Bankman-Fried, the erstwhile head of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. The spectacular flameout of his virtual empire has evolved from a cautionary tale into a master class on everything that's wrong with crypto markets.As customers and creditors sort through what remains of the failed exchange's holdings, and as the repercussions spread throughout…

FTX suffered a “complete failure of corporate controls” that culminated in an “unprecedented” debacle, its new chief executive said Thursday. John J. Ray, who has helped oversee some of the biggest bankruptcies ever, including Enron’s, said in a filing to federal bankruptcy court that he’s never seen anything as bad in 40 years of restructuring firms. The filing paints a vivid picture of the chaos that characterized the cryptocurrency company’s finances, accounting and leadership under…

FTX disabled users from withdrawing their funds last week before finally declaring bankruptcy. U.S. officials are investigating founder Sam Bankman-Fried over potentially illicit transfers he made between FTX and his other firm Alameda.Photo: Leon Neal (Getty Images)Sam Bankman-Fried, who was once considered the real ”wunderkind” of the crypto world, is desperately trying to defend his public image despite federal law enforcement investigations and U.S. lawmakers closing in.Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the U.S. and the…

Screenshot: Lucas Ropek/YouTubeThings are looking pretty, prettyy, prettyyy bad for Larry David, as well as a slew of other famous people who previously helped to promote the now-wrecked cryptocurrency exchange FTX. A class action lawsuit filed in Florida on Tuesday lists as defendants a host of celebrities who shilled for the platform, including David, football god Tom Brady, his ex-wife Gisele Bundchen, basketball stars Shaq and Steph Curry, and others. The suit also lists the firm’s former CEO and founder, Sam…

The meltdown of Sam Bankman-Fried’s digital assets empire FTX is a “Lehman Shock” to the industry, said the co-founder of bitFlyer Inc. The meltdown of Sam Bankman-Fried's digital assets empire FTX is a “Lehman Shock” to the industry, potentially causing more crypto firms to fail, said the co-founder of major Japanese crypto exchange bitFlyer Inc.“It's a huge impact,” Yuzo Kano said in an interview with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts on Bloomberg Television at the New Economy Forum, adding that the turmoil may push…

One FTX executive vomited when he learned that the crypto exchange was missing billions of dollars of customer money. A company lawyer quit via a harsh text message to then-Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried. A top salesman who had bet big on FTX equity saw most of his wealth evaporate overnight.What started as a dream job turned into a nightmare for employees of FTX, the crypto exchange that imploded in spectacular fashion last week. The Wall Street Journal spoke to more than a dozen current…