Elon Musk Shares Thoughts on FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried – This Is What He Said

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Ruholamin Haqshanas

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Ruholamin Haqshanas

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Ruholamin Haqshanas is a contributing crypto writer for CryptoNews. He is a crypto and finance journalist with over four years of experience. Ruholamin has been featured in several high-profile crypto...

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June 25, 2023

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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has claimed that he never trusted FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. 

Back in March, when Musk was trying to raise funds in a bid to finance his $44 billion Twitter buyout, Bankman-Fried reached out to the billionaire via intermediaries to express his interest in investing in Twitter.

As per leaked text messages, Musk’s banker on the Twitter deal Michael Grimes said the billionaire that SBF was offering “at least $3 billion” to help Musk buy Twitter, and wanted to talk about the potential for “social media blockchain integration.”

Musk asked Grimes, “Does Sam actually have $3B liquid?” showing skepticism about the FTX CEO’s ability to prepare this amount of money. 

Twitter user Internal Tech Emails, which has over 347k followers on the social media platform, shared a copy of the texts on Friday. Musk replied, “Accurate. He set off my bs detector, which is why I did not think he had $3B.”

The text messages initially came out back in September as part of legal proceedings, showing that SBF was willing to contribute up to $5 billion toward acquiring Twitter.

Last week, SBF said they didn’t invest in Twitter because of the crypto-related difference in visions for the social network. 

FTX Files for Bankruptcy as Regulators Come After It

As reported, FTX’s desperate scramble for investors to repair its balance sheet eventually ended on Friday after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, capping a sudden and startling downfall for one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Notably, FTX US, the US arm of the crypto exchange, has also been included in the proceedings, despite claims by the former CEO that their US exchange was fine. 

The bankruptcy filing came after regulators around the world started freezing the troubled exchange’s assets.

Initially, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas froze the assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd, the Bahamian subsidiary of the platform. The agency said it believes the freeze is “the prudent course of action” and is intended to stabilize the company and secure assets.

Shortly after, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Justice Department (DOJ), two top-tier regulatory agencies, revealed that they are investigating FTX following its sudden implosion this week. 

Japan’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau – responsible for regulating crypto exchanges in the country – also banned FTX from taking deposits from clients. Australia’s financial regulator followed along, putting FTX Australia into administration, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Meanwhile, amid all the chaos, reports claiming that FTX wallets were being drained in a series of mysterious transactions started circulating late Friday. Watchers concluded that FTX had either been hacked or insiders were making off with client funds in the latest incendiary developments in the FTX collapse.