Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX’s most outrageous purchases: how they blew US$3.5 billion, from private jets for Amazon deliveries and DoorDash meals, to luxury yachts and even a Shaquille O’Neal commercial
- FTX went bankrupt last year – and now court filings are showing that sister firm Alameda had a US$65 billion line of credit at the crypto exchange that SBF founded
- While customers lost their investments, SBF and co splurged on stays at Albany Resort in the Bahamas and Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville – but their biggest expense was their own payouts
FTX went bankrupt last November after it didn’t have enough money to meet customer withdrawals. That was partly thanks to excessive spending on luxury property, hotels and a yacht, court filings show.
The wildest expenses also include US$400,000 on DoorDash and US$600,000 at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.
Bankruptcy lawyers said Alameda, FTX’s sister exchange co-founded by FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, “bought planes, houses, threw parties, made political donations” with a US$65 billion line of credit at FTX.
The vast sums are hard to visualise, but it was partly thanks to this spending that customers have been left out of pocket.
After CoinDesk reported on the close ties between Alameda and FTX, customers rushed to withdraw their deposits, but the crypto exchange didn’t have the funds to cover them.
From DoorDash and Margaritaville to lavish penthouses and commercials, here are the wildest expenses to be revealed in FTX’s bankruptcy case.