What happened to Tom Brady’s FTX stake? Crypto company files for bankruptcy amid stunning crash
Tom Brady has lots of interests and ventures beyond the football field like being involved in crypto currency. However, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback could be in deep trouble due to his investment in a cryptocurrency company, FTX.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Brady was given an equity stake in exchange for becoming a brand ambassador. He put his own brand in motion to help give publicity to FTX.
Last year, Tom Brady and his then-wife, Gisele Bündchen, invested a huge stake in the FTX crypto exchange. The then-couple previously announced a collaboration with FTX and Bankman-Fried back in 2020. As brand ambassadors, the two received an unknown equity stake in the company in exchange for crypto.
What went wrong with FTX?
The company's CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, apologized to investors and customers of FTX, for the exchange platform he created in 2019. He also resigned as CEO and stated that FTX was filing for bankruptcy. These are a couple of tweets made by Bankman-Fried the day before his resignation:
1) I'm sorry. That's the biggest thing.
I fucked up, and should have done better.
8) And so we are where we are. Which sucks, and that's on me.
I'm sorry.
15) First, one way or another, Alameda Research is winding down trading.
They aren't doing any of the weird things that I see on Twitter--and nothing large at all. And one way or another, soon they won't be trading on FTX anymore.
According to the New York Times, FTX is the focal point of investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and federal prosecutors in the state of New York. Bankman-Fried and his wealth was once projected to be as massive as $24 billion. Now, that figure has dropped to under a billion.
The former CEO's worries started recently when Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s chief executive, hinted that FTX might be on shaky fiscal standing due to which many of the customers attempted to remove their crypto stock from the platform, and FTX couldn't meet the demand.
Next, He reached a deal to allow Zhao to purchase FTX in a bailout. However, after assessing their financial documents, both Binance and Zhou removed themselves from the agreement which left Mr. Bankman-Fried with very few options.
In phone conversations with investors and messages to employees, Bankman-Fried apologized over and over. Yet, he emphasized that he was doing his best to raise funds and straighten out the crisis. But the hole was ultimately too big to fill.
In all, FTX owed as much as $8 billion. Tom Brady might be set to retire after this NFL season, but the recent news might impact that choice.