Wild FTX spending included all-expense trips and free massages

FTX executives spent wildly and showered workers with lavish perks such as free food and massages, and Amazon deliveries by private jet in the months before the cryptocurrency site’s catastrophic collapse, according to former employees.

FTX’s headquarters in the Bahamas featured daily catering “in addition to the free groceries, barbershop pop-up and bi-weekly massages,” a former worker told the Financial Times.

Workers also enjoyed a “full suite of cars and gas covered for all employees [and] unlimited, full expense covered trips to any office globally,” the ex-employee added.

Since Amazon does not deliver to the Bahamas, FTX reportedly chartered private planes to fly their orders from Miami to the company headquarters. FTX’s US branch was given $200 per day toward DoorDash food delivery.

Former employees expressed shock over the extent of the spending under FTX’s disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, who has drawn sharp criticism in bankruptcy court for using the company as his “personal fiefdom.”

“[It was] kids leading kids,” one former employee told the FT. “The entire operation was idiotically inefficient, but equally mesmerizing.”


Bahamas penthouse
Sam Bankman-Fried and his friends ran FTX from a luxury penthouse.
Seaside Real Estate/ Bahamas MLS

 “I had never witnessed so much money in my life. I don’t think anybody had, including SBF,” the employee added, using Bankman-Fried’s initials.

Bankman-Fried reportedly declined to comment on the report.

New FTX CEO John Ray III and other stewards of the company’s bankruptcy process have outlined questionable purchases and slipshod accounting practices in various court filings since the company collapsed earlier this month.


Albany
FTX executives bought several properties in the ritzy Albany resort community.
MEGA

One such filing revealed that Alameda Research, FTX’s sister cryptocurrency trading firm, has a $55,319 unpaid tab at Margaritaville Beach Resort in the Bahamas. The resort was founded by musician Jimmy Buffett.

FTX attorneys said Bankman-Fried and his associates used company funds to buy up $300 million in luxury real estate in the Bahamas, including several high-end properties in the exclusive Albany community.

Bankman-Fried, his ex-lover Caroline Ellison and a group of other top executives lived and worked together from a ritzy penthouse within the resort.


Caroline Ellison
Caroline Ellison was CEO of Alameda Research.
Twitter / @carolinecapital

Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried claims he has just $100,000 left.
Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ray blasted Bankman-Fried’s lack of corporate governance in another filing, describing the company’s bookkeeping as worse than what he encountered while overseeing disgraced energy firm Enron’s bankruptcy.

FTX attorneys said company executives would often approve expense requests by posting emojis on an internal Slack channel.

One former employee who spoke to the FT said Bankman-Fried and other executives would approve major spending, such as a $135 million naming rights deal on the stadium for the NBA’s Miami Heat, with little regard for return on investment.


Tom Brady
Tom Brady starred in several ads for FTX.
tombrady/Twitter

“It just kinda went crazy,” the employee said. “If Sam said OK, it was good to go. Regardless of the amount.” 

FTX’s spending also included major ad campaigns starring the likes of NFL legend Tom Brady — who also served as a brand ambassador — and a Super Bowl commercial featuring “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David.


DC townhouse
A nonprofit run by SBF’s younger brother bought a DC townhouse worth more than $3 million.
Bright MLS

Bankman-Fried’s family members were also linked to major purchases.

Guarding Against Pandemics, the nonprofit run by his younger brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, purchased a Washington, DC, townhouse for more than $3 million in April, according to media outlet Puck. The nonprofit was partially funded by Sam Bankman-Fried.


DC townhouse
Gabe Bankman-Fried is SBF’s younger brother and head of the nonprofit.
Bright MLS

Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, co-signed the deed for a Bahamas beach house that was intended as a vacation home, Reuters reported. The parents said they intend to return the property following FTX’s downfall.

FTX’s collapse marked a stunning downfall for Bankman-Fried, whose personal fortune was estimated to be nearly $16 billion just a few weeks ago.

In an interview with Axios this week, Bankman-Fried claimed he is down to just $100,000 in his personal bank account.