Court documents recently filed in Delaware have shed light on transactions favoring top executives at FTX, the cryptocurrency trading platform that went bankrupt in November 2022. The information shows cash payments and asset transfers made to high-ranking company officials, both at FTX and its partner firm Alameda Research, within a year leading up to the platform's financial collapse. However, these court documents come with a caveat—the presented data may not be wholly accurate or comprehensive.
Notably, FTX orchestrated a $2.51 million transfer to the American Yacht Group in March 2022. This payment was advantageous to Sam Trabucco, the former co-CEO of Alameda Research. A couple of months later, Trabucco publicized his acquisition of a boat via a social media announcement of his job resignation. Caroline Ellison, the other former co-CEO of Alameda, responded to Trabucco's tweet, wishing him enjoyable times on his new boat.
The bankruptcy filings also disclosed several cash payments made to key FTX figures like CEO Bankman-Fried and director of engineering Nishad Singh, as well as Darren Wong and Constance Wang, both former chief officers at FTX. However, the financial disclosure does not fully cover crypto or other digital transactions that might have occurred.
In another high-profile deal, Bankman-Fried and FTX's co-founder Gary Wang purchased shares of the trading app Robinhood in April and May of 2022. The total investment came to more than $54 million, with Bankman-Fried owning 90% of the shares. Yet, these shares were confiscated by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year.
As of August 31, Robinhood confirmed buying back its shares—totaling approximately 55 million—from FTX and Alameda Research for about $606 million. Robinhood's CFO, Jason Warnick, expressed contentment with this development, emphasizing the company's ambitious growth strategies.
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