Sam Bankman-Fried Loses $17 Billion Fortune, Now Down to Just $100,000 in the Bank

CRYPTO FTX Sam Bankman-Fried
Last updated:
Author
Author
Ruholamin Haqshanas
About Author

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...

Last updated:
Why Trust Cryptonews
Cryptonews has covered the cryptocurrency industry topics since 2017, aiming to provide informative insights to our readers. Our journalists and analysts have extensive experience in market analysis and blockchain technologies. We strive to maintain high editorial standards, focusing on factual accuracy and balanced reporting across all areas - from cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects to industry events, products, and technological developments. Our ongoing presence in the industry reflects our commitment to delivering relevant information in the evolving world of digital assets. Read more about Cryptonews
Sam Bankman-Fried. Source: a video screenshot, FTX Official / YouTube

Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO and founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, is down to $100,000 from the approximately $17 billion he was worth earlier this year. 

In a recent interview with Axios, Bankman-Fried claimed that he currently has around $100,000 in his bank accounts, down by 99% from his net worth of around $17 billion based on calculations by Bloomberg. When asked about his personal finances, he said,

“Am I allowed to say a negative number? I mean, I have no idea. I don’t know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked. It’s complicated. Basically, everything I had was just tied up in the company.”

According to SBF’s Forbes profile, most of his wealth was tied up in the ownership of about half of FTX and a share of its FTT tokens. His wealth peaked at an estimated $26.5 billion.

Following the collapse of FTX, Bloomberg called SBF’s loss of fortune “one of history’s greatest-ever destructions of wealth.”

Bankman-Fried owns about 70% of FTX’s US business, which was included in the bankruptcy filings. His stake in online brokerage Robinhood, previously valued at more than $500 million, was removed from Bloomberg’s calculation after news reports said that the stake was held through Alameda and may have been used as collateral for loans.

SBF Says Regulation Could Have Helped Prevent FTX Fall

Meanwhile, SBF claimed that proper regulation could have helped prevent the collapse of FTX, saying that he wished “there had been someone who wasn’t me who was in charge of managing conflicts of interest.”

“I think one thing is… if you looked at the reporting, and CFTC applications, that would have been extremely helpful here on international rigor,” Bankman-Fried said.

In fact, SBF has been under extreme criticism for his management of FTX and user funds. James Bromley, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell who is representing FTX, said during the Delaware Bankruptcy Court last week that the exchange was run as a personal fiefdom of Sam Bankman-Fried. 

As reported, FTX lent as much as $10 billion worth of customer assets to fund risky bets by its affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research. Since FTX had $16 billion in customer assets, the exchange had lent more than half of its customer funds. 

“I wish I’d been more careful… I obviously deeply regret this. I’ve been focusing on volume, rather than positions for balances,” SBF said. “I should have been more responsible, and I should have been more on top of what was going on.”

More Articles

Price Analysis
Libra Scandal Rocks the Crypto World – Will TRUMP Coin Benefit From the Fallout?
Michael Davis
Michael Davis
2025-02-19 00:07:32
News
World of Women and Artist Sara Baumann Launch Free NFT Portrait Series
Tanzeel Akhtar
Tanzeel Akhtar
2025-02-18 23:43:46
Crypto News in numbers
editors
Authors List + 66 More
2M+
Active Monthly Users Around the World
250+
Guides and Reviews Articles
8
Years on the Market
70
International Team Authors