FTX stakes owned by Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen disclosed in court documents

NFL legend Tom Brady and ex-wife Gisele Bündchen were among the largest individual holders of FTX stock before the doomed cryptocurrency site collapsed into bankruptcy, court documents showed on Tuesday.

FTX shares held by Brady, Bündchen and other celebrity backers are now virtually worthless as officials struggle to salvage remaining assets and attempt to help abandoned clients financially.

Brady, 45, owns more than 1.1 million shares of FTX common stock, according to a list of shareholders released by the bankruptcy court. Bündchen owns over 686,000 ordinary shares. The couple finalized their divorce last year.

FTX is a privately held firm, and the exact value of the shares held by Brady, Bündchen and other investors could not be immediately determined, but their value was likely substantial. FTX hit a whopping $32 billion valuation in January 2021, just months before its collapse.

In November, according to Forbes that on paper, Brady’s share was worth approximately $45 million, while Bündchen’s was worth about $25 million. The newspaper based its claims on documents that Bankman-Fride once provided to Forbes.

Other notable individuals listed among FTX shareholders included KPC Venture Capital, a firm associated with Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots.

KPC Venture Capital owns more than 110,000 Series B preferred shares of FTX’s main platform, as well as 479,000 shares of common stock and 43,545 Series A preferred shares of West Realm Shires, which controls FTX’s US operations.

Like all individuals and businesses caught in the FTX crash, shareholders will have an uphill battle to recover from their losses. Under US bankruptcy law, customers, suppliers, and other creditors are entitled to proceeds to shareholders.

Additional FTX stakeholders include NBA player Udonis Haslem, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund, and Wall Street firms such as Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and Thoma Bravo.

Brady and Bündchen have played a key role as brand ambassadors for FTX, once appearing in an ad in which they encouraged a number of ordinary people such as plumbers and doctors to invest in cryptocurrencies. the former couple received shares in the capital in exchange for their promotional efforts.

Last year, Bündchen appeared alongside disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried at the Salt Crypto Bahamas Conference, where they shared the stage to discuss sustainability efforts in the cryptocurrency industry.

Brady and Bündchen top the list of top FTX sponsors to be named class action defendants on behalf of clients who have lost money in bankruptcy.

A few days after the bankruptcy of FTX Brady silently cleared tweets in which he promoted the company.

Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to eight federal charges. The feds accused him of running a massive scam and defrauding clients of billions of dollars.