How Rich Is Sam Bankman-Fried?
Unless you follow the cryptocurrency sector closely, you may not know the name Sam Bankman-Fried, best known by his initials SBF. But the crypto billionaire made headlines in mid-December not for his massive wealth, but for a $20 billion-plus loss concerning his assets.
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In Spring 2022, SBF made the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $26 billion. By early November, his wealth had plummeted to $16 billion due to the massive downturn in the crypto space (the so-called “crypto winter”). Within a week, Bloomberg reported that SBF’s net worth had dropped to virtually zero when his firm, FTX, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It’s unknown whether he has any other untracked or undisclosed assets.
On December 13, 2022, Reuters reported that SBF was arrested on Monday in the Bahamas at the request of U.S. prosecutors. FTX CEO John Ray told Reuters that, under Bank-Friedman’s tenure, FTX exhibited “complete failure of corporate controls and… complete absence of trustworthy financial information.” According to CNBC, Bankman-Fried faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and more.
SBF also held a $500 million stake in Robinhood Markets, Inc. It was erased from the former billionaire’s net worth calculations when it was found to be held through SBF’s trading house, Alameda, which was also part of the bankruptcy (and alleged conspiracy).
Bankman-Fried, at 30 years old, had become a crypto billionaire who identified himself as a follower of “effective altruism,” with goal of making as much money as possible to help those in need through his foundation, the FTX Future Fund.
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The FTX Future Fund had committed to $160 million in grants, but, in mid-November, the five-person staff quit, noting “fundamental questions about the legitimacy and integrity of the business operations that were funding the FTX Foundation and the Future Fund,” in a press release published on the Effective Altruism Forum.
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