Sam Bankman-Fried Signs Deal with Disgruntled FTX Investors, Will Aid Their Pursuit Of Celebrity Endorsers

Updated: 23 April 2024

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Imprisoned Sam Bankman-Fried has signed an agreement with some FTX investors who are dropping their class action lawsuit against him in exchange for his help as they go after celebrity promoters who endorsed the collapsed exchange.

Filed in a Miami court on Friday, the agreement has not yet been approved by a judge. Should it receive the greenlight, Bankman-Fried will be released from current and future civil liability linked to FTX’s collapse.

The agreement follows the sentencing of Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison for his role in the collapse of FTX. He is currently in the process of appealing the sentence.

Celebrities Accused Of Deceiving FTX Investors

Some FTX investors have accused the celebrity endorsers of deception by allegedly making claims about the safety of FTX’s crypto assets.

By gaining cooperation from Bankman-Fried, the investors hope to gain knowledge that can bolster their case.

Sports personalities Shaquille O’Neill, Steph Curry, Tom Brady, Naomi Osaka and Shohei Otani are all included in the class-action lawsuit. These celebrity endorsers, alongside supermodel Gisele Bundchen and more than a dozen international venture capital (VC) firms, are all fighting the case.

In the agreement with investors, Bankman-Fried will “aid in victim recovery” by providing both testimony and documents that are currently in his possession. He will also provide any needed assistance towards the litigation efforts against the promoters and the VCs who endorsed FTX.

Sam Bankman-Fried Not The Only FTX Exec To Sign Deal

Former FTX employees Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, Gary Wang and FTX lawyer Dan Friedberg have entered similar agreements with the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Finance YouTubers Graham Stephan, Tom Nash, Jeremy Lefebvre, Brian Jung, Andrei Jikh and Jaspreet Singh settled cases against them.

YouTubers and influencers like Bitboy, Meet Kevin and Graham Stephan are reportedly being sued for $1 billion in a class action lawsuit for promoting defunct crypto exchange FTX, per the Block.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) March 16, 2023

These lesser-known celebrity promoters contributed to a common fund of $1.4 million to fund the lawsuit. Trevor Lawrence, the quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, also settled with the plaintiffs in 2023 after he was paid half a million dollars to endorse FTX’s subsidiary Blockfolio.