Alameda Research, the trading arm of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto behemoth, loaned him and other firms under his control $3.3 billion, according to documents filed as part of FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings.
The filing said a loan of $1 billion went directly to Bankman-Fried, while $2.3 billion went to Paper Bird Inc., where he owns a majority stake. Other employees at FTX also received loans from Alameda, including $543 million to the head of engineering Nishad Singh and $55 million to head of FTX digital markets, Ryan Salame.
The bankruptcy filing included a plethora of mindblowing revelations about FTX. The new chief executive, who oversaw the liquidation of scandal-ridden Enron, said he was shocked by the mishandling of corporate finances. FTX, under Bankman-Fried’s leadership, kept little to no records, and it was warned in the filing that any financial statements made previously could not be relied on.
Cash flows from Alameda to other ventures controlled by Bankman-Fried are the central focus of allegations of mishandling customer funds. FTX CEO John J. Ray III said in the bankruptcy filing that “never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.”
