The disgraced founder of FTX reportedly personally took in hundreds of millions of dollars last year after a funding round for the embattled crypto exchange.
According to a new Wall Street Journal report, FTX launched a $420 million funding spree in October 2021, telling high-profile investors that the money would be used to grow the crypto exchange, improve the experience of its customers and capture the interest of regulators.
However, the report highlights that nearly 75% of the funds raised went to the pockets of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. According to The Wall Street Journal, Bankman-Fried personally collected $300 million by selling some of his shares in the company.
People close to the matter say that Bankman-Fried told investors back then that the money would serve as partial reimbursement for the funds he used to buy out Binance’s shares in the company.
In July last year, Sam Bankman-Fried bought Binance’s stake in FTX. The rival crypto exchange was the first investor to back FTX.
Earlier this month, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed that his firm received $2.1 billion worth of crypto assets as part of the buyout deal with FTX.
According to The Wall Street Journal, it could not be determined how Bankman-Fried put together the funds to buy out Binance. It is also not 100% clear how Bankman-Fried handled the $300 million.
Audited financial statements seen by The Wall Street Journal indicate that the funds were kept by FTX for the purposes of “operational expediency” in the interest of a “related party.”
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