Investors in Bankrupt FTX Crypto Exchange Included IMG, Tom Brady, Robert Kraft (2024)

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Investors in Bankrupt FTX Crypto Exchange Included IMG, Tom Brady, Robert Kraft? ›

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft are among a list of FTX equity owners who are set to see their investments in the cryptocurrency firm be completely wiped out in bankruptcy proceedings, according to a report by Insider.

As part of his deal with the now-defunct company, The New York Times reported on Friday, he was paid $30 million — most of which came in the form of FTX stock. Brady's ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, received $18 million in FTX stock, too.

Tom Brady is the most famous face to promote and invest in FTX — and he also may have suffered the greatest individual loss. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback owned over 1.1 million common shares of FTX Trading, which equaled about $45 million before the company went bankrupt, according to Bloomberg.

FTX's venture backers included Patriots owner Robert Kraft and billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, new filings show. FTX's shareholders included entities connected to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and hedge fund titan Paul Tudor Jones.

The final collapse came at the hands of Changpeng Zhao—“CZ” to everyone in the industry—who tweeted that his company Binance was dumping its entire position in FTX's house token, FTT. The fire sale, along with a ham-fisted attempt by Bankman-Fried to defend the token, triggered a panic and FTX was bankrupt days later.

Over his 23 seasons, Brady has earned at least $180 million from endorsem*nts, licensing, appearances and memorabilia, according to estimates from Sportico, putting his net worth around $512 million when combined with his football income.

But most of the big name promoters of FTX – like athletes Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Shaquille O'Neill, Naomi Osaka and Shohei Otani and supermodel Gisele Bundchen – are fighting the lawsuit, as are over a dozen domestic and international venture capital firms.

FTX says it will return money to most of its customers FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded, and some will get more than that.

At Bankman-Fried's sentencing hearing, Kaplan agreed. He said FTX's customers had lost some $8bn and that its investors had lost $1.7bn.

How much money did FTX steal? ›

Kaplan found that FTX customers lost $8 billion, FTX's equity investors lost $1.7 billion, and that lenders to the Alameda Research hedge fund Bankman-Fried founded lost $1.3 billion. He imposed an $11 billion forfeiture order and authorized the government to repay victims with seized assets.

“He paid Tom Brady $55 million for 20 hours a year for three years,” Lewis told 60 Minutes. “He paid Steph Curry $35 million for same thing for three years.” Larry David, who starred in a popular 2022 Super Bowl ad for FTX, received $10 million, per Lewis.

FTX was one of the largest digital currency exchange platforms for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. As more people invested in cryptocurrencies, they turned to these platforms because they provided a digital wallet to store cryptocurrencies directly in a personal account.

FTX was a leading cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt in November 2022 amid allegations that its owners had embezzled and misused customer funds. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the exchange, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to repay $11 billion.

The government relied heavily on the testimony of three former members of Bankman-Fried's inner circle, his top executives including his former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, to explain how Bankman-Fried used Alameda Research to siphon billions of dollars from customer accounts at FTX.

At the time of its collapse, FTX had around 300 employees.

The FTX class-action lawsuit names defendants including Brady, Curry, Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani, basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal and Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka.

Thursday's verdict caps an astounding fall for the now-bankrupt FTX; the company held the naming rights to the Miami Heat's arena and partnered with Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Naomi Osaka, Shohei Ohtani, Steph Curry, Gisele Bündchen, Larry David and other elite figures in the sports and entertainment industries.

NEW YORK (AP) — A host of Hollywood and sports celebrities including Larry David and Tom Brady were named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arguing that their celebrity status made them culpable for promoting the firm's failed business model.