Despite FTX Exchange filing for bankruptcy three years ago, founder Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) early venture investments have now reached astonishing values, potentially altering the fate of FTX and its creditors.
The collapse of FTX stemmed from a liquidity crisis, primarily due to the misappropriation of customer funds to support high-risk investments at sister company Alameda Research. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, FTX's total liabilities (mainly customer deposits) were estimated between $8 billion and $11 billion, while its liquid assets stood at only $900 million. According to publicly available data from the Financial Times, FTX's international balance sheet shows that its 'illiquid' assets amount to approximately $5.5 billion (mainly in tokens), with an additional $3.2 billion in illiquid private equity investments.
FTX's Investment in Anthropic Now Valued Over $30 Billion
Among SBF's numerous investments, the bet on AI company Anthropic stands out. FTX invested $500 million in this competitor to OpenAI, acquiring about 8% equity. Bankruptcy lawyers later sold this stake for $1.3 billion, realizing a profit of over $800 million.
Recently, Anthropic raised $30 billion in a Series G funding round led by GIC and Coatue, bringing the post-money valuation of the AI company to $380 billion. Based on this valuation, FTX's stake in Anthropic is now worth as much as $30 billion, more than double the estimated customer debts.
Anthropic is just one example. FTX's investments in other projects like Solana and Robinhood have also yielded substantial returns.
As early as May 2022, SBF disclosed holding a 7.6% stake in Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD.O), for which he paid $648 million. Based on Robinhood's current share price of $73.64, this stake is now valued at $5.12 billion.
However, how much do these enormous paper values mean for FTX's bankruptcy liquidation and creditor payouts?
The fact is, the soaring value of these investments does not change the fundamental reason for FTX's bankruptcy: SBF misappropriated customer funds to finance his venture investments.
Notably, SBF himself seems to disagree with the timing of these investments' sales and the bankruptcy handling process. In response to a post regarding the current market value of FTX's Anthropic shares, SBF criticized the lawyers managing the bankruptcy. “The lawyers who filed for FTX's bankruptcy once said Anthropic was 'worthless' and sold this stake for $1.3 billion,” he wrote.
SBF posted in February: “FTX never went bankrupt. I never filed for bankruptcy. It was those lawyers who took over the company and submitted a false bankruptcy filing four hours later so they could steal funds.”