FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Resigns As Firm Collapses

The fall of crypto poster boy Sam Bankman-Fried is complete: The ex-billionaire resigned from his exchange FTX on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, as the company declared bankruptcy, Tracy Connor reported for TechCrunch.

Photo Insert: The spiral began last week when crypto news site Coindesk published a story that raised questions about the solvency of Bankman-Fried’s companies.

The 30-year-old was once hailed as a pioneer of responsible crypto investing, and trust in FTX helped make it the third-largest exchange in the world. Now Bankman-Fried is slinking off in disgrace, leaving little but questions and investors who will have to fight for what’s left through the bankruptcy court system.

“The immediate relief of Chapter 11 is appropriate to provide the FTX Group the opportunity to assess its situation and develop a process to maximize recoveries for stakeholders,” John J. Ray, who is replacing Bankman-Fried as CEO, said in a statement.

“The FTX Group has valuable assets that can only be effectively administered in an organized, joint process. I want to ensure every employee, customer, creditor, contact party, stockholder, investor, governmental authority and other stakeholder that we are going to conduct this effort with diligence, thoroughness, and transparency. Stakeholders should understand that events have been fast-moving and the new team is engaged only recently. Stakeholders should review the materials filed on the docket of the proceedings over the coming days for more information.

The spiral began last week when crypto news site Coindesk published a story that raised questions about the solvency of Bankman-Fried’s companies, reporting his trading group, Alameda Research, had most of its assets tied up in a risky token issued by another one of his companies.

Days later came the shock announcement by SBF—as he is known in the industry—that he was selling to rival Binance.

But, Binance swiftly pulled out of the bailout, suggesting it could not save FTX, and Bankman-Fried could do little more than beg stakeholders for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry. That’s the biggest thing,” he wrote in a 22-tweet thread on Thursday. “I fucked up, and should have done better.”

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