I was shocked when I first learned how a boor like Sam Bankman-Fried managed to convince so many seemingly smart people - big money managers, venture capitalists and all those celebrity ambassadors - that he was such a little investment genius that they should transfer for a lot of money for him to play.
That is, until I witnessed what happened on Wednesday after the fallen crypto star tried to explain his version of the FTX disaster to journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. Billions of client funds missing, lives wasted, etc. were not illegal, just a big innocent mistake, or, in his words, he “screwed up”, the result of a “bad month”.
Sounds absurd, right? Believe it or not, many sophisticated financiers say they still believe in the latest SBF promotional presentation, which is further proof that suckers are born every minute, and many of them occupy Wall’s C. Street offices.
Of course, not everyone in big finance bought the SBF chip, even when it was high. Veteran trader Mark Kohods and Chicago Mercantile Exchange CEO Terry Duffy were skeptical from the start about his trading prowess and how Bankman-Fried claimed to have devoted his entire life outside of cryptocurrencies to the wakeful fashion known as “effective altruism,” where he earned money to give his all.
Henchmen of Sam Bankman-Freed raffled off client funds at a global crypto casino.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Sipa USA
But they were among the few who saw signs that something was wrong. Most of the media and far too many big finance guys seemed to be oblivious to his chaotic appearance and odd behavior. They thought it was cute. They didn’t consider that relatively quickly he became a billionaire, a Democrat mega-donor, giving big money to politicians with oversight of cryptocurrencies.
I think it’s okay to buy influence as long as Democrats are involved.
Conflicting cases
They, of course, ignored his controversial business model: Alameda Research, a risky prop-trading fund notorious for its excessive risk, joined its FTX crypto exchange, which was supposed to protect client deposits. This is something that was almost designed to fail, and this is exactly what happened when SBF minions invested client funds in a global crypto casino.
Sam Bankman-Fried stated that he “misrecorded” $8 billion in FTX funds.via Reuters
To make matters worse, some members of the so-called “smart money” ensemble are still eating his crap explanation of one of the biggest scandals in recent market history without the slightest bit of indigestion or outrage.
Bill Ackman is one of the leading hedge fund managers. He is known for “understating” or betting against stocks he believes were fraudulent and once ran a year-long campaign to prove (but unsuccessfully) that the supplement company Herbalife was a big pyramid scheme.
But Ackman was so taken with SBF’s excuse — that the crypto brother “never tried to commit a scam” by assembling a house of cards that didn’t meet minimum risk compliance standards — that Ackman tweeted, “Call me crazy but I think @sbf tells the truth.
I don’t know if Ekman is really crazy, but if he believes SBF’s explanation of how he started a financial company without even basic risk management knowledge, he might be a real jerk.
Kevin O’Leary reportedly lost millions after the FTX crash.Reuters
Tom Brady was FTX’s “brand ambassador”.Pennsylvania
Also pay attention to Kevin O’Leary, known for “Shark Tank”. He comes across as someone who’s driven around the neighborhood so many times that he can tell good business ideas from dogs. Real shark.
O’Leary would have lost millions of dollars due to the collapse of FTX. He, along with NFL legend Tom Brady and other celebrities, was a so-called “brand ambassador,” part of a team that appeared in those eye-catching ads that SBF aired to sell to investors that FTX was a safe place to trade your assets. crypto.
Not very handsome, but to make matters worse, O’Leary is still unaware of the SBF’s motives.
After watching Wednesday’s SBF performance with Sorkin, O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful,” he tweeted, “I lost millions as an investor in @FTX and got blown up as a paid company representative, but after listening to this interview, I’m in the @BillAckman camp about a baby!
Who was in charge?
For starters, the “kid” is 30 years old. It was an adult male who conceded to Sorkin that “there was no one who was primarily responsible for client positional risk on FTX”, which is the functional equivalent of a doctor performing surgeries without a hospital visit.
The SBF also told Sorkin that he spoke publicly about what happened against his lawyer’s advice because he wanted to do the right thing and help save everyone who lost money. Maybe that’s what won over Ekman and O’Leary.
I bet the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which is investigating this messy mess, will not be such an easy target for SBF apologies.