The discredited crypto executive at the center of the FTX crash, Sam Bankman-Fried, claims to have only $100,000 left in his bank account. In an interview with Axios, Bankman-Fried attributed the failure of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which sought US bankruptcy protection earlier this month, to both regulatory deficiencies and personal failings.
Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, responded, “Am I permitted to say a negative number?” when asked about his personal finances.
“I mean, I have no idea and I don’t know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked,” he clarified.
“It’s complicated. Basically, everything I had was just tied up in the company,” the embattled FTX founder explained.
When the FTX collapse made news, Bankman-Fried lost his billionaire title overnight as his personal worth fell by over 94 percent to $991.5 million in a single day.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s personal wealth reportedly peaked at $26.5 billion, according to Axios. His estimated net worth at the time the FTX scandal broke was $15.2 billion.
On November 11, FTX, its U.S. division, cryptocurrency trading company Alameda Research, and almost 130 additional affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. Sam Bankman-Fried, the company’s founder, resigned as CEO after rival exchange Binance withdrew from a planned acquisition.
Numerous crypto firms have since been preparing for a fallout as a result of the collapse, which has stoked concerns about the industry’s future.
At the troubled cryptocurrency exchange’s first bankruptcy hearing last week, attorneys detailed ongoing issues like hacks and sizable missing assets while claiming that the troubled exchange was run as a “personal fiefdom” of former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
