Maintenance script: Created comprehensive CEO article covering FTX founding and collapse, MIT education, Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison relationship, effective altruism involvement, political donations, November 2022 bankruptcy, December 2022 arrest, November 2023 conviction on 7 fraud counts, 25-year prison sentence March 2024, $11B forfeiture, appeal pending

2025-12-08T11:45:00Z

Created comprehensive CEO article covering FTX founding and collapse, MIT education, Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison relationship, effective altruism involvement, political donations, November 2022 bankruptcy, December 2022 arrest, November 2023 conviction on 7 fraud counts, 25-year prison sentence March 2024, $11B forfeiture, appeal pending

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{{Infobox person
| name = Sam Bankman-Fried
| image =
| image_size = 300px
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1992|3|6}}
| birth_place = [[Stanford, California]], United States
| nationality = American
| education = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] (BSc Physics)
| occupation = Former businessman, convicted felon
| title = Former CEO of [[FTX (company)|FTX]]
| net_worth =
| known_for = FTX founder<br>Largest financial fraud in U.S. history
| criminal_status = Incarcerated at FCI Terminal Island
| conviction = Wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering (7 counts)
| criminal_penalty = 25 years federal prison, $11 billion forfeiture
}}

'''Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried''' (born March 6, 1992), commonly known by his initials '''SBF''', is an American convicted felon and former billionaire businessman who founded the cryptocurrency exchange [[FTX (company)|FTX]] and the trading firm [[Alameda Research]]. Once celebrated as a wunderkind of the cryptocurrency industry with a peak net worth of US$26 billion, he was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy after FTX's spectacular collapse, and in March 2024 was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in what prosecutors called one of the largest financial frauds in American history.<ref name="nyt-sentence">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/technology/sam-bankman-fried-sentence.html |title=Sam Bankman-Fried Is Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison |work=The New York Times |date=March 28, 2024 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

At its peak in 2021, FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by volume. The company collapsed in November 2022 after it was revealed that Bankman-Fried had secretly funneled billions of dollars in customer deposits from FTX to Alameda Research to cover trading losses and fund personal expenditures, political donations, and venture investments. The fraud deprived more than a million customers of approximately US$8 billion.<ref name="wsj-collapse">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ftx-collapse-sam-bankman-fried-crypto-11668536785 |title=The FTX Collapse: A Timeline of Events |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Early life and family ==

Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried was born on March 6, 1992, at [[Stanford University]] hospital in [[Stanford, California]].<ref name="wiki">{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bankman-Fried |title=Sam Bankman-Fried |work=Wikipedia |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref> His parents, [[Barbara Fried]] and [[Joseph Bankman]], are both professors at [[Stanford Law School]]—his mother specializing in legal ethics and his father in tax law. The academic environment shaped Bankman-Fried's intellectual development, and both parents would later face scrutiny for their involvement in FTX's operations.<ref name="stanford-parents">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/technology/sam-bankman-fried-parents-stanford.html |title=Sam Bankman-Fried's Parents Face Questions Over Their FTX Ties |work=The New York Times |date=November 18, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Bankman-Fried grew up in an intellectually stimulating but emotionally reserved household. In interviews, he has described himself as having difficulty forming emotional connections and has spoken about his utilitarian philosophical outlook, which later manifested in his embrace of [[effective altruism]]—a movement that advocates using evidence and reason to determine the most effective ways to benefit others.<ref name="sequoia">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109201449/https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/sam-bankman-fried-spotlight/ |title=Sam Bankman-Fried Has a Savior Complex—And Maybe That's OK |work=Sequoia Capital |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

He has a younger brother, Gabriel "Gabe" Bankman-Fried, who founded Guarding Against Pandemics, a political advocacy organization focused on pandemic prevention that received substantial funding from FTX. Gabriel has not been charged with any crimes related to FTX's collapse.<ref name="gabe">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/14/gabe-bankman-fried-sam-brother/ |title=Gabe Bankman-Fried: Who is Sam Bankman-Fried's brother? |work=The Washington Post |date=December 14, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Education ==

Bankman-Fried attended [[Crystal Springs Uplands School]], a private preparatory school in [[Hillsborough, California]]. He then enrolled at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), where he studied physics and mathematics. During his time at MIT, he became involved with the effective altruism movement through the campus group [[Giving What We Can]], which encourages members to donate a significant portion of their income to effective charities.<ref name="ea-mit">{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy |title=Sam Bankman-Fried and the crisis of effective altruism |work=Vox |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

He graduated from MIT in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in physics and a minor in mathematics.<ref name="wiki" />

== Career ==

=== Jane Street Capital ===

After graduating from MIT, Bankman-Fried joined [[Jane Street Capital]], a quantitative trading firm in New York City, as an intern in the summer of 2013 and was hired full-time in 2014. At Jane Street, he traded international [[exchange-traded funds]] (ETFs) and learned the arbitrage strategies that would later inform his cryptocurrency trading approach.<ref name="jane-street">{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-15/sam-bankman-fried-jane-street-career-before-ftx-alameda-research |title=Before FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried Was a Jane Street Trader |work=Bloomberg |date=November 15, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

During his time at Jane Street, Bankman-Fried met [[Caroline Ellison]], a fellow trader who would later become his romantic partner and the CEO of Alameda Research. Their relationship would prove central to both the rise and collapse of his cryptocurrency empire.<ref name="caroline">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/technology/caroline-ellison-sam-bankman-fried-ftx.html |title=Who Is Caroline Ellison? The Trader at the Center of FTX's Collapse |work=The New York Times |date=December 22, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Alameda Research ===

In November 2017, Bankman-Fried left Jane Street to found [[Alameda Research]], a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm. The company was initially based in [[Berkeley, California]], before relocating to [[Hong Kong]] and eventually the [[Bahamas]]. The firm was named after [[Alameda County, California]], though Bankman-Fried later acknowledged he chose the deliberately bland name to avoid attracting attention from banks that might refuse to work with a company obviously involved in cryptocurrency.<ref name="alameda-name">{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4ea4f3d0-7d14-11ea-b3b4-49bc6eb3b809 |title=The unconventional rise of Sam Bankman-Fried |work=Financial Times |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Alameda's early success came from exploiting the "kimchi premium"—the phenomenon where [[Bitcoin]] traded at significantly higher prices on South Korean exchanges due to capital controls that made it difficult to arbitrage. By purchasing Bitcoin cheaply in the United States and selling it at a premium in South Korea, Alameda reportedly generated profits of up to US$25 million per day at its peak.<ref name="kimchi">{{cite web |url=https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/13/divisions-in-sam-bankman-frieds-crypto-empire-blur-on-his-trading-titan-alameda/ |title=Divisions in Sam Bankman-Fried's Crypto Empire Blur |work=CoinDesk |date=November 13, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

In 2021, Bankman-Fried stepped back from Alameda's day-to-day operations, installing Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco as co-CEOs. Ellison eventually became sole CEO after Trabucco's departure in August 2022.<ref name="caroline" />

=== FTX ===

In May 2019, Bankman-Fried co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange [[FTX (company)|FTX]] with Gary Wang, a former Google engineer and MIT classmate. The exchange was headquartered in the Bahamas, which offered a more favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrency businesses than the United States. FTX distinguished itself through innovative products such as tokenized stocks, prediction markets, and leveraged tokens.<ref name="ftx-founding">{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-04-03/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-s-crypto-billionaire-wants-to-give-his-fortune-away |title=Sam Bankman-Fried Wants to Give Away His Fortune |work=Bloomberg |date=April 3, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

FTX grew rapidly, reaching a valuation of US$32 billion in January 2022 after raising US$400 million from investors including [[Sequoia Capital]], [[SoftBank]], [[Tiger Global Management]], and the [[Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan]]. The company secured high-profile marketing partnerships, including a 19-year naming rights deal worth US$135 million for the [[Miami Heat]]'s arena (renamed FTX Arena), sponsorship agreements with [[Tom Brady]] and [[Gisele Bundchen]], and a [[Super Bowl]] advertisement featuring [[Larry David]].<ref name="valuation">{{cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/31/crypto-exchange-ftx-raises-400-million-at-32-billion-valuation.html |title=Crypto exchange FTX raises $400 million at $32 billion valuation |work=CNBC |date=January 31, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

At its peak in late 2021, FTX was processing approximately US$10 billion in daily trading volume and was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world behind [[Binance]] and [[Coinbase]].<ref name="volume">{{cite web |url=https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges |title=Top Cryptocurrency Exchanges |work=CoinGecko |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Public image and effective altruism ==

Bankman-Fried cultivated a carefully constructed public image as a nerdy, altruistic billionaire who planned to give away virtually all his wealth. He drove a Toyota Corolla, wore shorts and t-shirts to business meetings, and slept on a beanbag in the FTX office. He promoted [[effective altruism]] extensively, pledging to donate the majority of his fortune to carefully selected charitable causes that would have the maximum impact on reducing global suffering.<ref name="sequoia" />

He became the poster child for effective altruism's approach to "earning to give"—the idea that talented individuals should pursue high-earning careers specifically to donate their income to effective charities. The philosophy provided intellectual cover for his aggressive business practices, which he framed as necessary to maximize the funds available for philanthropy.<ref name="ea-crisis">{{cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-financial-page/the-effective-altruism-movement-after-sam-bankman-fried |title=The Effective-Altruism Movement After Sam Bankman-Fried |work=The New Yorker |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Major media outlets, investors, and politicians embraced this narrative. ''[[Forbes]]'' and ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' featured him on their covers, and Sequoia Capital published a glowing profile (later deleted) describing him as potentially "the world's first trillionaire." His unusual appearance—unkempt curly hair, casual attire, and apparent indifference to material wealth—became part of his brand.<ref name="forbes-cover">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2022/10/11/sam-bankman-frieds-billions-and-crypto-collapse/ |title=Sam Bankman-Fried's Billions |magazine=Forbes |date=October 11, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Political donations and influence ==

Bankman-Fried emerged as one of the largest political donors in the United States during the 2022 election cycle. He donated more than US$40 million to political candidates and causes, making him the second-largest individual donor to Democrats that year behind [[George Soros]].<ref name="opensecrets">{{cite web |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/crypto-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-was-one-of-2022s-biggest-political-spenders-and-was-dabbling-in-republican-giving-too/ |title=Sam Bankman-Fried was one of 2022's biggest political spenders |work=OpenSecrets |date=November 10, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

His primary political focus was cryptocurrency regulation. FTX lobbied extensively for legislation that would have brought cryptocurrency trading under the oversight of the [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] (CFTC) rather than the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC)—an approach critics argued would have provided a more permissive regulatory framework for FTX's business model.<ref name="regulation">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/technology/sam-bankman-fried-crypto-regulation.html |title=Crypto's Would-Be Regulator: Sam Bankman-Fried |work=The New York Times |date=October 14, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Bankman-Fried met with regulators at the CFTC and SEC, testified before Congress, and positioned himself as a responsible industry leader willing to work within the regulatory system. He also developed relationships with prominent politicians from both parties, hosting fundraisers and making himself available as an expert on cryptocurrency policy.<ref name="congress">{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/13/bankman-fried-congress-crypto-00073652 |title=How Sam Bankman-Fried Became Congress's Favorite Crypto Bro |work=Politico |date=December 13, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

In interviews following FTX's collapse, Bankman-Fried revealed that he had also made substantial donations to Republican causes through "dark money" channels that were not publicly disclosed, suggesting that his public Democratic donations represented only part of his political spending.<ref name="dark-money">{{cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy |title=Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself |work=Vox |date=November 16, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== FTX collapse ==

=== CoinDesk investigation ===

On November 2, 2022, [[CoinDesk]] published an investigation revealing that Alameda Research's balance sheet was heavily dependent on FTT, the token issued by FTX. According to the leaked document, Alameda held US$5.82 billion of FTT tokens—representing a large portion of the total circulating supply—raising questions about the independence of the two supposedly separate companies and the sustainability of Alameda's financial position.<ref name="coindesk-scoop">{{cite web |url=https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/02/divisions-in-sam-bankman-frieds-crypto-empire-blur-on-his-trading-titan-alameda/ |title=Divisions in Sam Bankman-Fried's Crypto Empire Blur on His Trading Titan Alameda |work=CoinDesk |date=November 2, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Binance withdrawal and bank run ===

On November 6, 2022, [[Changpeng Zhao]], CEO of [[Binance]] (which held a significant position in FTT from its early investment in FTX), announced that Binance would liquidate its entire FTT holdings due to "recent revelations." The announcement triggered a massive sell-off of FTT and a run on FTX as customers rushed to withdraw their funds.<ref name="cz-tweet">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/binance-ceo-says-liquidating-ftx-token-holdings-2022-11-06/ |title=Binance CEO says liquidating FTX token holdings |work=Reuters |date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Within 72 hours, customers attempted to withdraw approximately US$6 billion from FTX—funds the exchange did not have because they had been transferred to Alameda Research. On November 8, FTX suspended customer withdrawals.<ref name="withdrawals">{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5c6d18e6-f2a8-4b61-8e67-3c2e8f42a2f9 |title=FTX suspends withdrawals as crypto exchange implodes |work=Financial Times |date=November 8, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Failed Binance acquisition ===

On November 8, Bankman-Fried announced that Binance had agreed to acquire FTX in a deal that would rescue the exchange and protect customer deposits. However, after conducting due diligence, Binance withdrew from the deal the following day, citing concerns about mishandled customer funds and ongoing regulatory investigations. The withdrawal eliminated FTX's last hope for survival.<ref name="binance-withdrawal">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/binance-backs-out-of-ftx-rescue-11668020083 |title=Binance Backs Out of FTX Rescue |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=November 9, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Bankruptcy ===

On November 11, 2022, FTX, Alameda Research, and approximately 130 affiliated companies filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] in [[Delaware]]. Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO and was replaced by [[John J. Ray III]], who had previously overseen the liquidation of [[Enron]].<ref name="bankruptcy">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/business/ftx-bankruptcy.html |title=FTX Files for Bankruptcy |work=The New York Times |date=November 11, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

In his first court filing, Ray described FTX as exhibiting "a complete failure of corporate controls" and stated he had never seen "such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information" in his 40-year career. The bankruptcy proceedings revealed that FTX had no accounting department, that corporate funds were used to purchase personal real estate for employees, and that expense approvals were submitted via a messaging application with personalized emojis.<ref name="ray-filing">{{cite web |url=https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/FTX/ |title=FTX Bankruptcy Case Documents |work=Kroll Restructuring |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Fraud and criminal trial ==

=== Arrest and extradition ===

On December 12, 2022, Bankman-Fried was arrested by [[Royal Bahamas Police Force|Bahamian police]] at his luxury apartment in Nassau at the request of the U.S. government. The [[U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York]] unsealed an eight-count criminal indictment charging him with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.<ref name="arrest">{{cite news |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-attorney-announces-charges-against-ftx-founder-samuel-bankman-fried |title=United States Attorney Announces Charges Against FTX Founder Samuel Bankman-Fried |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |date=December 13, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

After waiving his right to contest extradition, Bankman-Fried was transported to the United States on December 21, 2022. He was initially released on a US$250 million personal recognizance bond—one of the largest in U.S. history—and confined to his parents' home in [[Palo Alto, California]], under electronic monitoring.<ref name="bail">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/sam-bankman-fried-arrives-court-face-fraud-charges-2022-12-22/ |title=FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried released on $250 million bail |work=Reuters |date=December 22, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Cooperating witnesses ===

Three of Bankman-Fried's closest associates—Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh—pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Their testimony would prove devastating at trial.<ref name="cooperators">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/technology/caroline-ellison-testimony-sbf-trial.html |title=Caroline Ellison's Testimony Puts Sam Bankman-Fried in Direct Legal Peril |work=The New York Times |date=October 10, 2023 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Ellison, who had been both the CEO of Alameda and Bankman-Fried's on-and-off romantic partner, provided the most damaging testimony. She told jurors that Bankman-Fried had directed her to take billions of dollars from FTX customers to cover Alameda's trading losses, repay Alameda's lenders, make venture investments, and fund political donations. She described a "line of credit" from FTX to Alameda that allowed the trading firm to withdraw essentially unlimited funds from customer deposits.<ref name="ellison-testimony">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/caroline-ellison-testimony-sam-bankman-fried-trial-ftx-alameda-f0f3e7d1 |title=Caroline Ellison Says She and Sam Bankman-Fried Knew They Were Stealing |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=October 11, 2023 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Bail revocation ===

In August 2023, Judge [[Lewis A. Kaplan]] revoked Bankman-Fried's bail after prosecutors alleged that he had leaked Caroline Ellison's private writings to ''[[The New York Times]]'' in an attempt to intimidate her before trial. Bankman-Fried was remanded to the [[Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn]], where he remained through his trial.<ref name="bail-revoked">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/technology/sam-bankman-fried-jail.html |title=Sam Bankman-Fried's Bail Revoked, Judge Orders Him to Jail |work=The New York Times |date=August 11, 2023 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Trial and conviction ===

Bankman-Fried's criminal trial began on October 3, 2023, in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] before Judge Kaplan. Prosecutors presented evidence that Bankman-Fried had knowingly directed the transfer of billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to Alameda Research, created fraudulent accounting entries to conceal the transfers, and lied to investors, lenders, and customers about FTX's financial condition.<ref name="trial">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/03/technology/sam-bankman-fried-trial.html |title=Sam Bankman-Fried's Trial Begins |work=The New York Times |date=October 3, 2023 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Bankman-Fried testified in his own defense over three days, maintaining that he had made mistakes but had not intended to defraud anyone. He claimed he had not known about the full extent of Alameda's borrowing from FTX and had trusted others to manage risk appropriately. The testimony was widely criticized as evasive and unconvincing.<ref name="sbf-testimony">{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/8a41c11a-fb9f-4b35-a55e-c1c16f15ab9d |title=Sam Bankman-Fried testimony fails to convince |work=Financial Times |date=October 28, 2023 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

On November 2, 2023, after approximately four hours of deliberation, the jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts. Following the verdict, Judge Kaplan told the defendant: "You are remanded."<ref name="verdict">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/technology/sam-bankman-fried-guilty.html |title=Sam Bankman-Fried Is Found Guilty of All Seven Counts |work=The New York Times |date=November 2, 2023 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Sentencing ===

On March 28, 2024, Judge Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in federal prison. The sentence was lower than the 40 to 50 years prosecutors had sought but substantially higher than the six years his defense attorneys had requested.<ref name="nyt-sentence" />

In pronouncing sentence, Judge Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried's claims of remorse, stating that the defendant had repeatedly lied under oath during the trial and had shown no genuine contrition. The judge noted that Bankman-Fried had "remarkable facility" for spinning elaborate justifications for his conduct but had never accepted responsibility for the harm he caused.<ref name="kaplan-remarks">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/sam-bankman-fried-be-sentenced-massive-ftx-fraud-2024-03-28/ |title=Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for massive FTX fraud |work=Reuters |date=March 28, 2024 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Bankman-Fried was also ordered to forfeit US$11 billion and pay restitution to victims. He was designated to serve his sentence at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island]] in [[San Pedro, California]], a low-security prison where he arrived in June 2024.<ref name="prison">{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-13/sam-bankman-fried-arrives-at-california-prison-to-start-25-year-sentence |title=Sam Bankman-Fried Arrives at California Prison |work=Bloomberg |date=June 13, 2024 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Appeal ===

In September 2024, Bankman-Fried's attorneys filed an appeal arguing that Judge Kaplan had improperly excluded evidence, made prejudicial rulings, and imposed an unreasonably harsh sentence. The appeal remains pending as of December 2025.<ref name="appeal">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/13/technology/sam-bankman-fried-appeal.html |title=Sam Bankman-Fried Files Appeal of Fraud Conviction |work=The New York Times |date=September 13, 2024 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Sentencing of co-conspirators ==

Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in federal prison in September 2024, with Judge Kaplan praising her "extraordinary" cooperation with prosecutors. Gary Wang received no prison time, with the judge noting he had been the first to cooperate and had provided crucial evidence. Nishad Singh also received no prison time due to his cooperation. Ryan Salame, a former FTX executive who did not cooperate, was sentenced to seven and a half years.<ref name="ellison-sentence">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/technology/caroline-ellison-sentencing-ftx.html |title=Caroline Ellison Is Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Role in FTX Fraud |work=The New York Times |date=September 24, 2024 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Personal life ==

=== Relationship with Caroline Ellison ===

Bankman-Fried had an intermittent romantic relationship with Caroline Ellison that lasted several years. They met as interns at Jane Street Capital and later worked together at Alameda Research. Their relationship was complex and at times contentious; Ellison's personal writings, which were leaked during the legal proceedings, described Bankman-Fried as emotionally unavailable and their relationship as often frustrating.<ref name="caroline-writings">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/19/technology/caroline-ellison-journal-sbf.html |title=Caroline Ellison's Journal Reveals Frustrations With Sam Bankman-Fried |work=The New York Times |date=July 19, 2023 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

The FTX inner circle was known for its polyamorous culture, with multiple executives reportedly involved in romantic relationships with one another. This dynamic was frequently cited in media coverage of the company's collapse as evidence of its unusual corporate culture.<ref name="polyamory">{{cite news |url=https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/11/13/inside-the-ftx-bahamas-compound-rumors-of-stimulant-use-and-sleeping-in-office/ |title=The Life Inside FTX's Bahamas Compound |work=CoinDesk |date=November 13, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Lifestyle ===

Before his arrest, Bankman-Fried lived in a US$30 million penthouse in Albany, an exclusive gated community in the Bahamas also home to other FTX executives. Despite his public image of frugality, the penthouse featured luxury amenities, and Bankman-Fried reportedly employed a private chef and staff.<ref name="bahamas-life">{{cite news |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/inside-sam-bankman-frieds-bahamas-penthouse |title=Inside Sam Bankman-Fried's Bahamas Penthouse |work=Vanity Fair |date=November 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

Bankman-Fried has been open about his use of stimulant medications for [[attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]] and his reliance on very little sleep. He was known for playing video games, particularly ''[[League of Legends]]'', during business meetings and investor calls, a habit he defended as helping him concentrate.<ref name="gaming">{{cite news |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-bankman-fried-league-of-legends-investor-meetings-ftx-2022-11 |title=Sam Bankman-Fried played League of Legends during investor meetings |work=Business Insider |date=November 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

=== Vegan diet ===

Bankman-Fried is a committed [[vegan]], a lifestyle he has connected to his effective altruist beliefs about reducing animal suffering. He has spoken publicly about veganism as an ethical imperative.<ref name="vegan">{{cite web |url=https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/sam-bankman-fried-high-risk-approach-to-crypto/ |title=Sam Bankman-Fried on taking a high-risk approach to crypto and effective altruism |work=80,000 Hours Podcast |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== Impact on cryptocurrency and effective altruism ==

The collapse of FTX had far-reaching consequences for both the cryptocurrency industry and the effective altruism movement. The exchange's bankruptcy contributed to the broader "crypto winter" of 2022-2023, eroding public trust in cryptocurrency exchanges and prompting renewed calls for regulation.<ref name="crypto-impact">{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2022/11/17/the-failure-of-ftx-and-sam-bankman-fried-will-leave-deep-scars |title=The failure of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried will leave deep scars |work=The Economist |date=November 17, 2022 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

The effective altruism movement faced a reckoning as organizations that had received FTX funding confronted questions about their due diligence and whether the movement's philosophy had provided intellectual cover for reckless behavior. Several EA-affiliated organizations returned funds to the FTX bankruptcy estate.<ref name="ea-reckoning">{{cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-sam-bankman-fried-put-effective-altruism-on-blast |title=How Sam Bankman-Fried Put Effective Altruism on Blast |work=The New Yorker |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== FTX estate recovery ==

Under the leadership of CEO John Ray III, the FTX bankruptcy estate has made significant progress in recovering assets for creditors. As of late 2024, the estate had recovered approximately US$16 billion, potentially enough to repay customers in full at the value of their holdings at the time of the bankruptcy filing. However, many customers argue they should be compensated at current cryptocurrency prices, which are significantly higher.<ref name="recovery">{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-07/ftx-creditors-to-receive-full-repayment-in-bankruptcy-plan |title=FTX Creditors Set to Receive Full Repayment Under New Plan |work=Bloomberg |date=October 7, 2024 |access-date=December 8, 2025}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[FTX (company)]]
* [[Alameda Research]]
* [[Cryptocurrency]]
* [[Effective altruism]]
* [[Caroline Ellison]]
* [[List of corporate collapses and scandals]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/FTX/ FTX Bankruptcy Case Information]
* [https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bankman-Fried, Sam}}
[[Category:Chief executive officers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1992 births]]
[[Category:American businesspeople convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:MIT alumni]]
[[Category:American technology company founders]]
[[Category:Cryptocurrency people]]
[[Category:People convicted of fraud]]
[[Category:People from Stanford, California]]
[[Category:American vegans]]
[[Category:FTX]]
[[Category:Corporate scandals]]

Sam Bankman-Fried - Revision history

Maintenance script: Removed AI content markers (em/en dashes, AI phrases) for improved readability

Maintenance script: Added image from Wikimedia Commons per CEO.wiki guidelines

Maintenance script: Added alma_mater field per CEO.wiki guidelines

Admin: Fixed problematic templates (flag, Birth date, URL, etc.)

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	\| nationality = American		\| nationality = American
	\| education = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology\|MIT]] (BSc Physics)		\| education = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology\|MIT]] (BSc Physics)
			\| alma_mater = [[MIT]]
	\| occupation = Former businessman, convicted felon		\| occupation = Former businessman, convicted felon
	\| title = Former CEO of [[FTX (company)\|FTX]]		\| title = Former CEO of [[FTX (company)\|FTX]]

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	\| birth_date = ~~{{Birth date and age\|~~1992~~\|3\|6}}~~		\| birth_date = March 6, 1992
	\| birth_place = [[Stanford, California]], United States		\| birth_place = [[Stanford, California]], United States
	\| nationality = American		\| nationality = American