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johnray

Saturday, June 3, 2023

johnray

FTX Employees Say Goodbye to Perks Like BMWs. Bankman-Fried Apologizes

Since the collapse of crypto giant FTX, Bahamian employees have been out in the cold, some wondering about their next move after their dream job vanished.

Working for FTX, once valued at 32 billion dollars, meant a hefty salary, a right to company cars like BMWs and Jeeps, a daily intake of steaks and seafood for lunch, and the purchases of groceries bought by the company.

They never imagined the rapid collapse of the company that changed their lives. Now some are locked out of the company’s headquarters and said they cannot reach Vice President of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility Valdez Russel, the company’s Bahamas liaison, Forbes reported.

An anonymous employee still working for the company said, “It’s messed up because in the Bahamas this has happened a couple of times. Big foreign entities come into town and we get these big things. Then the sh-tshow comes down.”

A current employee said he was bothered by Bankman-Fried’s incessant tweets. “He’s not taking it seriously. You’re writing this cryptic bullsh-t and the only thing you have to say is ‘sorry.’”

“It’s f-ked up man.”

Bankman-Fried who stepped down as CEO on Nov. 11, recently released an apologetic letter on Tuesday, to be shared among FTX’s employees.

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, and I would give anything to be able to go back and do things over again. You were my family,” he said. “I’ve lost that, and our old home is an empty warehouse of monitors. When I turn around, there’s no one left to talk to.

“I froze up in the face of pressure and leaks and the Binance [letter of intent to purchase FTX], and said nothing,” he said.

The letter continued, “Maybe there is still a chance to save the company.”

“I believe that there are billions of dollars of genuine interest from new investors that could go to making customers whole. But I can’t promise you that anything will happen, because it’s not my choice.”

John Ray, who was at the center of Enron bankruptcy filings, is now the CEO of FTX and while at FTX bankruptcy filings, revealed corporate failings at the exchange headquartered in the Bahamas.

Bankman-Fried revealed in tweets that he was “reluctant” to file bankruptcy but was “pressured” to do so.

New FTX CEO Rebuke of Sam Bankman-Fried Dealings, Contradicts Davis Assessment

New FTX Boss John Ray harshly criticized crypto-white knight Sam Bankman-Fried and his transactions in the Bahamas, which directly opposes Prime Minister Philip Davis’ assessments of FTX’s operations in the Bahamas.

Ray wrote in a court filing in Delaware, “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.

“From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented.”

However, Davis in his first comment on the FTX’s fiasco said in the House of Assembly that officials have not found any anomalies.

“We have not identified any deficiencies in our regulatory framework that could have avoided this.”

Davis continued, “I have every confidence that the Bahamas will emerge from the proceedings involving FTX – proceedings taking place here as well as in other jurisdictions – with an enhanced reputation as a solid digital assets jurisdiction.”

Ray, who is an expert in financial scandals like Enron, rebuked FTX’s poor record-keeping, the inexperienced senior managers, and the use of company funds to purchase real estate in the Bahamas.

Ray said the exchange had suffered an “unprecedented and complete failure of corporate controls.”

Last week, the Securities Commission Bahamas froze Bankman-Fried’s assets after his 32-billion-dollar empire collapsed.

Since filing for bankruptcy, he appointed Ray as the new CEO.

Bankman-Fried is expected to testify on Capitol Hill next month to account for purported billions of dollars that evaporated in the crypto exchange.

 

The House of Cards Has Crumbled: Crypto King Sam Bankman-Fried Resigns and Files Bankruptcy

Following days of turmoil in the cryptocurrency industry, tipped by purported mishandling of funds in FTX’s empire, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried resigned from his position at the second largest crypto company and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Delaware court.

Bankman-Fried is trying to cap his downfall and has appointed John Ray III as chief executive officer. Ray is known as a restructuring expert, serving as a lawyer in bankruptcies, including Enron Corp.

“The immediate relief of Chapter 11 is appropriate to provide the FTX Group the opportunity to assess its situation and develop a process to maximize recoveries for stakeholders,” said the new FTX chief, Ray.

“The FTX Group has valuable assets that can only be effectively administered in an organized, joint process. I want to ensure every employee, customer, creditor, contract party, stockholder, investor, governmental authority and other stakeholders that we are going to conduct this effort with diligence, thoroughness and transparency,” Ray said.

The 30-year-old Bankman-Fried once known as crypto king is now being investigated by US authorities for mishandling of funds, and the Securities Commission of the Bahamas froze his assets.

Bankman-Fried lost about 14 billion dollars in a matter of days and his empire fell from a $32 billion valuation to bankruptcy.

Anthony Scaramucci, a one-time Trump communications director, and an FTX investor said he flew to the Bahamas on Tuesday to meet with Bankman-Fried but the situation appeared irreparable.

“Duped I guess is the right word, but I am very disappointed because I do like Sam,” Scaramucci said on CNBC’s Squawk Box Friday morning. “I don’t know what happened because I was not an insider at FTX.”

“I don’t want to call it fraud at this moment because that’s actually a legal term,” Scaramucci said. “I would implore Sam and his family to tell the truth to their investors, get to the bottom of it.”