The ex-CEO and co-founder of the collapsed digital asset change and megabrand FTX Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial begins subsequent week in New York’s Southern District.
Bankman-Fried will face seven felony prices regarding his firm final 12 months blowing up in what James Bromley, counsel to FTX’s new administration, described because the “probably the most abrupt and tough collapses within the historical past of company America.”
Though Bankman-Fried—often known as SBF—would be the star of the present, there’s a complete host of different vital characters who will play an vital function within the trial.
Sam Bankman-Fried
Bankman-Fried, 31, studied at MIT and labored at Jane Road earlier than launching FTX and Alameda Analysis.
Dorky, loquacious and mega-rich, he grew to become one of many world’s youngest billionaires at 29 however claimed he subscribed to the philosophy of efficient altruism and was solely eager about making all that cash so he might finally give it away to good causes.
After FTX went bankrupt in November 2021, Bankman-Fried gave quite a lot of interviews to mainstream media and apologized profusely about dropping a lot cash. He was then arrested within the Bahamas—the place FTX was based mostly—and hit with felony prices.
He has pleaded not responsible.
Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman
SBF’s mom, Barbara Fried, was a professor at one in all America’s most prestigious universities, Stanford Regulation College, earlier than retiring final 12 months. She claimed her departure had nothing to do with the collapse of her son’s crypto empire.
Earlier than her educating place, Fried labored as an affiliate with the New York Metropolis legislation agency of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and served as a legislation clerk to Choose J. Edward Lumbard of the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in accordance to a Stanford bio.
SBF’s father Joseph Bankman was additionally a legislation professor at Stanford who retired final 12 months. Bankman is a tax knowledgeable who labored with the State of California to assist make the U.S. tax code friendlier to lower-income residents—a system known as ReadyReturn.
Like his spouse, he reportedly was well-known in progressive circles. Bankman can also be a medical psychologist who has testified earlier than Congress and different legislative our bodies.
Each are concerned not solely as a result of they’re the mother and father of the alleged fraudster, however as a result of a lawsuit filed earlier this month alleges they leveraged their influential roles throughout the FTX enterprise for private achieve, and channeled hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to numerous entities, household and mates.
Gabriel Bankman-Fried
SBF’s brother Gabriel is concerned within the trial as a result of he ran a pandemic-prevention group that obtained money from FTX. Authorities are actually taking a look at whether or not Gabriel misappropriated funds.
Gabriel allegedly wished “to buy the sovereign nation of Nauru with the intention to assemble a ‘bunker/shelter’ that may be used for ‘some occasion the place 50%-99.99% of individuals die’.”
John J. Ray III
John J. Ray III is the person behind the restructuring of collapsed crypto agency FTX. Serving because the crypto agency’s new CEO, he has mentioned that the corporate’s collapse was attributable to “a really small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated people.”
With a 40-year profession, the skilled chapter lawyer had apparently seen all of it. Most notably, he helped recuperate a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} for collectors following the collapse of Enron—one of many largest bankruptcies in U.S. historical past.
However FTX may simply be his hardest activity thus far: final 12 months he mentioned he had by no means seen “such an utter failure of company controls.”
Choose Lewis Kaplan
Choose Kaplan, 78, is the decide presiding over the case—and he’s already made quite a lot of massive rulings within the case, together with permitting Sam to put on enterprise apparel and granting him use to an air-gapped laptop computer in the course of the trial.
Described as having a “no-nonsense” fashion for making fast choices, he’s additionally no stranger to the crypto world: he oversaw the primary federal bitcoin securities fraud prosecution.
Kaplan has expertise in high-profile instances akin to lawsuits towards Prince Andrew and Donald Trump.
Ryan Salame
Ryan Salame is the previous co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets and was mentioned to have dealt with political donations on behalf of the now-defunct crypto change’s executives. He pleaded responsible to felony marketing campaign finance violation prices in a Manhattan court docket earlier this month.
Sam Trabucco
Not concerned within the trial. The previous co-CEO of Alameda Analysis, Trabucco was a key determine within the FTX empire earlier than its collapse. He left the agency in August of final 12 months, and has maintained a low profile.
Nishad Singh
The previous head of engineering at FTX Nishad Singh pleaded responsible to prices of wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, cash laundering and marketing campaign finance violations in February. Singh, who had a 7.8% stake within the firm and was in SBF’s shut circle of mates and colleagues, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating the disgraced crypto mogul.
Caroline Ellison
The ex-girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, might be a star witness in his felony trial. Ellison was the previous CEO of Alameda Analysis and in December she admitted fraud.
Ellison was employed by Bankman-Fried to run Alameda—she was one in all many shut mates and colleagues that lived with the disgraced crypto mogul. Decrypt solely uncovered that Ellison had a fascination with race science and polyamory, which she often blogged about.
Gary Wang
FTX co-founder Gary Wang additionally pleaded responsible and agreed to cooperate with authorities within the FTX investigation. Mates with Bankman-Fried since highschool, Wang helped arrange the crypto behemoth however maintained a a lot decrease profile than SBF in the course of the crypto firm’s golden years.
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