Key Takeaways
- $7 million was spent on meals/ entertainment, with a significant chunk of them spent on catering services.
- $4 million was spent on flights and more than $500,000 on postage and delivery.
- $5.8 million of the money spent at the luxurious Albany Hotel resort
Sam Bankman Fried’s crypto empire FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Mid-Novmeber 2022. Since then, the court filings has revealed rather concerning details about the internal functions of FTX.
According to court documents accessed by media, FTX spent $40M on food, flights, and hotels in 9 months. Over $15 million was spent on luxury hotels and accommodation, with $5.8 million of the money spent at the luxurious Albany Hotel resort.$3.6 million was spent on Grand Hyatt, while a staggering $800,000 was spent at the five-star Rosewood resort.
According to London media, FTX provided its Bahamas staff with a “full suite of cars and gas covered for all employees unlimited, full expense covered trips to any office globally.” As per documents, approximately $7 million was spent on meals and entertainment, with a major chunk of them spent on catering services. Reportedly, around $4 million was spent on flights, and more than $500,000 was spent on postage and delivery.
The company’s extensive expenditure on luxury items has come under media scrutiny before. In December, a former FTX employee described the expenditure as “cult-like” while adding that the entire operation was iconically and moronically inefficient.
The latest disclosure on luxury expenditure comes amid Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pleading not guilty to all criminal charges he’s facing related to FTX implosion, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and violations of campaign finance laws.
FTX’s bankruptcy filing had earlier also revealed jarring details of internal mismanagement within the company. According to court documents, FTX founder and now ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried received a $1 billion personal loan from a crypto hedge fund run by SBF-Alameda Research before it went bankrupt. The filing details hint that Alameda had an advantage when making risky leveraged trades on FTX.
Reportedly, the total fair value of crypto held by FTX International was only $659,000 by the end of September, contrary to claims made by SBF that the company held $5.5 billion in “less liquid” crypto tokens. In the 23-page bankruptcy filing, FTX indicates it has over 100,000 creditors, assets in the range of $10 billion to $50 billion, as well as liabilities in the range of $10 billion to $50 billion.
