The collapse of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, has been linked to a number of high-profile investors, including football star Tom Brady, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Documents filed in Delaware bankruptcy court show that Brady and Bündchen held 1,144,861 and 686,761 in common stock, respectively, while the Kraft Group held 634,144 in common and preferred stock. Other investors included Coinbase, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pantera Ventures, and Tezos Foundation.
The collapse of FTX was caused by Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who liquidated the exchange’s entire FTT position. This caused FTX to file for bankruptcy protection less than a week later. The common and preferred stock listings represent a more conventional corporate ownership model that will no longer come to fruition.
At the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing in December, Kevin O’Leary, who held 184,061 in common and preferred FTX stock through his company O’Leary Productions, called Binance a “massive, unregulated monopoly,” alleging that Binance purposely caused FTX to collapse.
The collapse of FTX has been a major blow to the high-profile investors who had taken equity stakes in the company, including Brady, Bündchen, and O’Leary. It is difficult to estimate a dollar value for the shares, as FTX catastrophically collapsed before going public. The collapse of FTX has been a major setback for the cryptocurrency industry, as it has highlighted the risks of investing in the sector.
