In a collection of unpublished paperwork not too long ago uncovered by The New York Instances, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried extensively criticized colleagues and associates, expressing his views on the demise of FTX.
Some 250 pages of paperwork, not publicly obtainable, had been initially handed to social media influencer Tiffany Fong by Bankman-Fried throughout his interval of home arrest.
The Confessions of SBF
After lamenting the truth that he was below home arrest and had change into “one of the vital hated individuals on this planet,” Bankman-Fried went on to put blame on people linked to FTX and Alameda Analysis as he described his earlier relationships with them.
Bankman-Fried partially blamed Alameda Analysis CEO Caroline Ellison, who was additionally his romantic companion at one level, for FTX’s collapse. He wrote:
“[Ellison] regularly averted speaking about threat administration — dodging my recommendations — till it was too late … Each time that I reached out with recommendations, it simply made her really feel worse. I’m positive that being exes didn’t assist.”
He wrote that if Alameda had engaged in a hedging technique below Ellison’s management, it “would have remained solvent and prevented all the sad story.”
Bankman-Fried additionally criticized Alameda Analysis co-CEO Sam Trabucco. He stated that Trabucco was expert in danger administration however put in minimal effort and as an alternative frolicked touring and relationship. As with Ellison, he described his private relationship with Trabucco positively, detailing their earliest conferences at a math camp and attaching a photograph of an “I ❤ BF” shirt that Trabucco had bought throughout their highschool days.
Elsewhere, Bankman-Fried criticized FTX’s chapter legal professionals. In paperwork that referenced Christopher Nolan’s 2010 movie Inception, he claimed that Sullivan & Cromwell had fabricated the now-widespread narrative that he misappropriated buyer funds.
Bankman-Fried moreover described a quick assembly with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) throughout a convention in Taiwan with a celebration ambiance, writing:
“Tonight was an evening about booze and ladies and lasers and loud, booming music … I walked by CZ just a few extra instances, and every time he broke eye contact along with his eye sweet and embraced me: Individuals had been desirous about us, rather a lot.”
Binance was not unconnected to FTX’s collapse. Following detrimental protection of Alameda by CoinDesk on Nov. 2, 2023, Zhao tweeted on Nov. 6 that his agency would promote $2.1 billion of FTX-related funds. FTX then entered a liquidity disaster, and Binance introduced plans to accumulate and rescue the agency earlier than abandoning the deal by Nov. 9.
SBF paperwork should not totally public
Bankman-Fried’s unpublished paperwork quantity to 250 pages of fabric and should not publicly obtainable. He initially gave the paperwork to social media influencer Tiffany Fong, who visited him whereas he was below home arrest.
Fong initially acquired the paperwork in January. She ultimately despatched one doc to a former FTX engineer, Aditya Baradwaj, who urged that Alameda’s hedging practices wouldn’t have been vital if FTX had not misused buyer funds.
Later, Fong despatched the paperwork to The New York Instances, which referred to and quoted components of the paperwork in its newest protection of the matter.
By the way, Bankman-Fried despatched paperwork associated to former Caroline Ellison to The New York Instances in or previous to July 2023. His determination to share that info led to his bail revocation and present imprisonment because of the threat of witness tampering.