Who is FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, the one-time crypto mogul convicted of fraud?
NEW YORK: A few years after graduating from college, Sam Bankman-Fried grew worried he was not taking enough risks.So the son of two Stanford Law School professors quit his Wall Street job and in 2017 started a cryptocurrency hedge fund, setting off a sequence of events that culminated on Thursday (Nov 2) in his criminal conviction over what federal prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in United States history.He was found guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy and faces up to 110 years behind bars, with his sentencing set for Mar 28, 2024.Two years after launching a hedge fund, Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried founded FTX, an exchange that let users buy and sell digital assets such as bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency valuations surged over the following two years, propelling Bankman-Fried to a net worth of US$26 billion, according to Forbes magazine, before he turned 30.He parlayed his wealth into political clout, becoming one of the biggest donors to Democratic candidates and causes ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections.
Based in the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried became known for his mop of unkempt curly hair and for wearing rumpled shorts, even when entertaining dignitaries like former US president Bill Clinton.In a cryptocurrency sector plagued by hacks and money laundering, Bankman-Fried hired celebrities, including then National Football League (NFL) star quarterback Tom Brady and comedian Larry David to feature in advertisements portraying FTX as safe.
He publicly backed efforts to regulate crypto.But prosecutors said his laid-back demeanour combined with his cultivation of a responsible image concealed his years-long embezzlement of customer funds.
