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Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was living the living billionaire dream until earlier this month. Then FTX collapsed in a matter of days and the man who held a personal fortune of $26 billion at one time is now down to his last $100,000, Axios reported.
The rise of SBF was a textbook case of a young entrepreneur who struck gold in a field that was still in its infancy, and most knew little about it. Even today, very few really understand how the world of cryptocurrency works, and where it is headed. But one thing is for certain, SBF won't be a name that will be featured in successful crypto stories henceforth. He was at the helm of affairs when FTX collapsed and so did billions of dollars' worth of investor wealth.
Bust Billionaire Bankman-Fried
Earlier this month, FTX filed for bankruptcy after facing a week-long liquidity squeeze and failing to convince Binance that it could be rescued. The company is now under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice, and SBF has nowhere to hide since he was the CEO of the company throughout the entire period.
Speaking to Axios, SBF "deeply regretted" what the company he had founded was currently undergoing and took the blame for not being more responsible. He accepted that he was "focusing on volumes rather than positions for balances".
While creditors wait to know how much they will be able to recoup after the bankruptcy process is completed, SBF too is unaware of how much of his personal wealth remains. His billionaire status was linked to the performance of FTX, and after nearly $16 billion of personal wealth was wiped off in a week, he is not sure how much he is worth now. Last time he checked he had $100,000 in his bank account, SBF told Axios.
Does he own a stake in Twitter?
Last week, reports emerged that SBF owned a $100 million stake in Twitter. Although the social media company's new CEO, Elon Musk denied them, the Axios interview was the first time SBF commented on this.
Speaking to Axios, SBF said that earlier in April, the former FTX CEO intended to help Elon Musk acquire Twitter, and this investment would have been routed through his trading firm, Alameda Research, the one that has been at the center of the FTX collapse.
As it turns out, SBF and Musk spoke over the phone and SBF backed out of the offer. The stake, however, was shown to FTX investors in a balance sheet presented earlier this month. This could either mean that prior to FTX bankruptcy, SBF believed that his stake in Twitter existed, or if he wasn't he was misleading his investors.
Now the former billionaire claims that he does not know what happened to his Twitter stake, although some of it might have been sold prior to Musk's takeover. SBF could not confirm this either.
In a way, It sums up how SBF oversaw affairs at FTX as well and explains why the crypto exchange collapsed so suddenly. SBF acknowledged that regulation could have helped avoid such a situation.
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