Kevin O’Learyclaimed that FTX paid him $15 million to act as a spokesperson for the crypto exchange. O’Leary lost his stake in the company, which was sued by FTX shareholders. Larry David, Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry were also involved in the lawsuit.
These names took part in a class action lawsuit alleging that they misled investors by acting as FTX’s brand ambassadors.
Good Morning Everyone! Kevin O’Leary got paid $15MM to be FTX spokesperson… pic.twitter.com/iSjZZ8VZq5
— Genevieve Roch-Decter, CFA (@GRDecter) December 8, 2022
Kevin O’Leary also claimed that the bankruptcy protection process had reset his over $1 million stake in FTX. In addition, he added that the remaining $4 million was consumed by taxes and agency fees.
However, O’Leary conceded that this ‘investment’ was not very good.
FTX declared bankruptcy on November 11, and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) stepped down as CEO. The company is currently under investigation for improper use of customer money. “In my career, I have never seen corporate controls fail so badly and reliable financial information so lacking like here,” John Ray, FTX’s new CEO, told the bankruptcy court.
O’Leary claimed that Bankman-Fried is one of the top traders in the cryptocurrency space. However, despite saying that he lost millions of dollars in the collapse of FTX, he announced that he would support a new project if there was one. O’Leary’s comment, as most people think Bankman-Fried is a scammer cryptocurrency unit shocked the industry. The collapse of FTX has been compared by some to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
According to Bankman-Fried, he did not deliberately commit fraud. Bill Ackman expressed a similar belief that the SBF was telling O’Leary the truth. Also, just before FTX collapsed and had to file for bankruptcy, O’Leary came close to securing it.
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Disclaimer: What is written here is not investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments are high-risk investments. Every investment decision is under the individual’s own responsibility. Finally, Koinfinans and the author of this content cannot be held responsible for personal investment decisions.