Sam Bankman-Fried Net Worth: How His Net Worth Fell From $16 Billion To Nothing?

American CEO and entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried have zero net worth. Sam Bankman-Fried, also known by the moniker “SBF,” is most known for being a co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

He also established the quantitative cryptocurrency trading company Alameda Research. SBF purchased a 7.6% equity holding in Robinhood, a stock trading app, through Alameda Research in May 2022 for $648 million.

Sam Bankman-Fried peaked as one of the wealthiest cryptocurrency figures in January 2022 after FTX funded $400 million at a $32 billion value when his net worth reached $25 billion.

Sam was a billionaire before he was 30. Bankman-Fried was praised by observers for steering clear of many of the legal problems that competing exchanges in the cryptocurrency sector have encountered while running FTX.

Having said that, the majority of his assets have been classified as “of speculative value” and “illiquid,” and the majority of his fortune is related to tokens and his ownership position in FTX.

A snapshot of his digital wallet from 2021 allegedly revealed $10 billion in digital currency. $5 billion in coins were reportedly “frozen” and unable to be converted, though this was not confirmed. Additionally, FTX released $4 billion worth of those coins.

Early Life

In Stanford, California, on March 6, 1992, Sam Bankman-Fried was born. Sam was raised by two Stanford Law School professors and developed an early interest in utilitarianism. In his high school years, he also demonstrated a talent for arithmetic and went to talented student summer programs.

Sam continued his education after graduating by enrolling in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he eventually earned a physics degree. Bankman-Fried maintained a blog while attending college, writing on subjects like politics, sports, and utilitarianism.

FTX

After receiving his physics degree, Bankman-Fried began working for Jane Street Capital, a proprietary trading company. To become the director of the Centre for Effective Altruism, he relocated to Berkeley in 2017 after swiftly losing interest in trading international EFTs. He created the quantitative trading firm Alameda Research in 2017.

He set up an arbitrage trade in 2018 to trade more than $25 in bitcoin every single day by taking advantage of the greater price of bitcoin in Japan. Sam also relocated to Hong Kong in 2018 and later founded FTX.

This 2019-established bitcoin derivatives exchange currently controls nearly 90% of Alameda Research. FTX was “made by traders, for traders” and is now among the top exchanges for trading crypto derivatives. FTX began as a very unknown company, but over the course of around three years, it quickly rose to extraordinary heights.

In 2021, FTX raised $900 million from organizations like SoftBank and Coinbase Ventures, valuing the company at $18 billion, making Bankman-Fried one of the wealthiest people under the age of 30 in recorded history.

This resulted in FTX being valued 18 times greater than it had been approximately 1.5 years previously, setting a new record for fundraising in the sector. Sam is a 60% owner of FTX.

FTX raised $400 million at a $32 billion valuation in late January 2022.

FTX has acquired marketing agreements with well-known businesses including Major League Baseball and the Miami Heat after its spectacular rise in 2021. Miami renamed its home stadium “FTX Arena” in June 2021.

FTX has indicated that they reject orders from US-based traders who want to swap virtual currency, notwithstanding their association with these US-based brands. This is due to the severe regulations that US officials have on bitcoin exchanges.

Some claim that FTX will be subject to more scrutiny from the US regulatory system and that numerous other exchanges with similar features have all been the target of criminal prosecution in the past.

These critics assert that FTX has only escaped these repercussions because it is so new and that it is just a matter of time until the US cracks down on it. Because its operations would be illegal in the US, FTX is headquartered in Hong Kong.

Robinhood Investment

Sam disclosed in a May 2022 SEC statement that he had paid $648 million for 7.6% of the stock trading app Robinhood. Also, read about Kelsey Grammer Net Worth

Binance Eliminates FTX

FTX and Binance were formerly close pals. Binance actually invested in FTX’s stock quite early on. After some time, FTX overtook Binance to become the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and CZ, the founder of Binance, sought SBF to acquire the company’s stock for $2 billion.

FTX consented and made the payment for the transaction using its own token, FTT.

For some reason, possibly recognizing a chance to eliminate a rival, CZ tweeted on November 6, 2022, that he was no longer confident in FTX’s financial situation and that he intended to sell all $2 billion of Binance’s FTT assets at once.

After a few hours, the price of FTT fell by 20%, and concerns regarding the liquidity of FTX were widely known. Eventually, the price dropped by as much as 60%. After two days, on November 8, SBF abruptly tweeted that Binance had acquired FTX in a “strategic deal.”

Following up with a tweet, CZ stated: “This afternoon, FTX requested our assistance. There is a severe money shortage.” Terms weren’t made public.

Philanthropy and Politics According to Bankman-Fried, he eventually wants to donate the majority of his fortune to charitable organizations. He has joined groups like Giving What We Can, and when Sam was in charge of FTX, it donated 1% of its annual sales to charitable causes.

Sam has also contributed generously to political causes. He gave Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign a personal donation of $5.2 million. Sam contributed more than $40 million to numerous Democratic politicians in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. He was the cycle’s fifth-largest individual donor source.

How His Net Worth Fell From $16 Billion To Nothing?

On the days leading up to November 8, 2022, reports about FTX’s liquidity circulated. The rumors were started by Changpeng Zhao, sometimes known as CZ, a rival crypto billionaire to SBF. When FTX appeared to be collapsing on November 8, 2022, it was compelled to sell itself to CZ’s business Binance for an unknown sum.

On November 11, 2022, FTX declared bankruptcy, and SBF left the organization.

Personal Life

Sam is a vegan who gets four hours of sleep per night. He spends the majority of his time dozing off next to his computer on a bean bag chair.

Sam Bankman-Fried Net Worth

Sam Bankman-Fried Net Worth is now $0 after FTX collapsed. Sam Bankman-Fried just endured the most single-day wealth evisceration in history after being defeated in 12 hours.

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