Tom Brady FTX controversy: NFL icon could face legal trouble in $8,000,000,000 lawsuit
Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested recently over the FTX scandal, but investors who were defrauded have their sights set on Tom Brady and others now. Advertisements starring Larry David and Tom Brady promoting FTX were part of the first evidence shown to the jury at Bankman-Fried's trial, which found him guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against these celebrity investors, including Brady. It alleges that the celebrities, as well as firms that provided financial and legal services to the cryptocurrency, would have known there were major red flags if they'd only looked.
Legal experts have stated that the former New England Patriots quarterback is among the targets because he's rich and famous. With these celebrity investors, there's money to be gleaned and recouped by those defrauded. They can't go after Bankman-Fried for that money anymore as he is pretty much bankrupt. All told, it could cost $8 billion for Brady and others.
Legal teams for Brady, Stephen Curry, Shaquille O'Neal and others have argued that their roles in the advertising for FTX shouldn't come with penalty since they never explicitly told anyone to invest in the crypto that would eventually fail spectacularly.
There is also a potential argument to be made that the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star and his counterparts are victims as well. Since Bankman-Fried was found guilty, they lost plenty of money in the scam, too.
Trevor Lawrence signed a deal with FTX shortly before being drafted first overall in 2021, but he recently settled out of court and is currently not in danger like Brady and others are.
Full timeline of Tom Brady's involvement in the FTX scandal
Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and CTO Gary Wang created FTX in 2019 as a cryptocurrency exchange and hedge fund. Tom Brady would eventually sign on in 2021, and he would remain part of the company for some time along with his now ex-wife Gisele Bundchen.
The two of them appeared in numerous advertisements for it, and they were said to be among the biggest investors before they lost it all. Brady was arguably the celebrity face of the company after allegedly being paid over $50 million to be, and his social media was full of evidence from that.
In November of 2022, the crypto company officially went under and everyone lost everything with it. Lawsuits ensued, and Bankman-Fried was brought to trial about a month ago, being found guilty very recently.
Brady has since gone back and scrubbed all evidence of FTX from his social media profiles, so there's nothing there anymore. However, the investors certainly remember his role in the scandal.
How much did Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen lose in the FTX controversy?
According to a report, Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady lost about $50 million in the FTX scandal. It proved to be one of their most costly investments.
The legendary quarterback had all this happen while he was closing out his NFL career, and it certainly cost him financially as well as likely altering his reputation for the worse.
How much money is Tom Brady worth right now?
Despite the FTX controversy and subsequent lost money, Tom Brady's net worth is still really nice. The latest estimates from September suggest that the former Super Bowl-winner is worth $300 million now.