Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday, December 12, after the US attorney of the Southern District of New York shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamas government. The arrest is setting the stage for extradition and a US trial for the crypto entrepreneur at the heart of the crypto exchange’s collapse. 

His arrest is the first significant move by regulators to hold individuals accountable for the multibillion-dollar implosion of FTX last month. Before the arrest was announced, Fried had been expected to testify virtually before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday,

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Age and Family

Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, was born on March 6, 1992, in Stanford, California. He is 30 years old. His father, Joseph Bankman, and his mother, Barbara Fried, are both professors at Stanford Law School. His brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, is a former Wall Street trader and the former director of the non-profit organization Guarding Against Pandemics and its associated political action committee (PAC). 

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Drop in net worth

Bankman-Fried was one of the richest people in the cryptocurrency industry, as a founder of the FTX exchange and Alameda Research trading firm, before his empire collapsed in November 2022. His wealth peaked at $26 billion due to ownership of around half of FTX and a share of FTT tokens. In October 2022, he had an estimated net worth of $10.5 billion.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, amid FTX’s solvency crisis, his net worth was estimated to have dropped 94% in a day to $991.5 million on November 8, 2022. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index considered Bankman-Fried to have no material wealth by November 11, 2022.

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Relationship

Bankman-Fried was in a relationship with his colleague Caroline Ellison, CEO at Alameda Research.

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Political Donations

Before 2019, Bankman-Fried’s campaign finance activity was a $1000 contribution in 2010 to Michael Bennet. Before his wealth plunged in November 2022, Bankman-Fried was a major donor to Democratic Party candidates. He was the second largest individual contributor to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, donating $5.2 million. During the 2022 US midterm elections, he donated $40 million, mostly to Democratic candidates.