According to bankruptcy managers, FTX and most of its subsidiaries are resuming ordinary course payments of salary and benefits to employees worldwide as well as payments to certain non-US contractors and service providers.
New FTX CEO John J. Ray III said:
“With the Court’s approval of our First Day motions and the work being done on global cash management, I am pleased that the FTX group is resuming ordinary course cash payments of salaries and benefits to our remaining employees around the world. FTX also is making cash payments to selected non-U.S. vendors and service providers where necessary to preserve business operations, subject to the limits approved by the Bankruptcy Court. We recognize the hardship imposed by the temporary interruption in these payments and thank all of our valuable employees and partners for their support.”
The same announcement noted that FTX Digital Markets (FTXDM Bahamas) is the subject of a separate liquidation proceeding in The Bahamas and not included in, or protected by, the chapter 11 cases in the United States.
Meanwhile, founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried keeps telling the world he is trying to make good on his epic disaster, claiming he is on the hunt to raise enough money to reanimate FTX. Bankman-Fried reviewed the failure of FTX with Andrew Ross-Sorkin as part of the DealBook event. The crowd actually warmly received Bankman-Fried’s claims it was all one big mistake.
He then visited with George Stephanoupolous in the Bahamas, where he reiterated most of the same claims that lack of controls and shortcomings in management caused the failure.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg has published an article that is a bit more critical, calling Bankman-Fried delusional:
“Bankman-Fried tells me he’s still got a chance to raise $8 billion to save his company. He seems delusional, or committed to pretending this is still an error he can fix, and either way, the few supporters remaining at his penthouse seem unlikely to set him straight. The grim scene reminds me a bit of the end of Scarface, with Tony Montana holed up in his mansion, semi-incoherent, his unknown enemies sneaking closer. But instead of mountains of cocaine, Bankman-Fried is clinging to spreadsheet tabs filled with wildly optimistic cryptocurrency valuations.”
The same article resorts to describing FTX, and the broader crypto market, as casinos.
Bankman-Fried appears to be unable to explain $8 billion in value, which is missing from the Alameda – FTX mess. He admits to spending way more than they made and “misaccounted” for the billions in funds.
It was been widely reported that both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating the failure of FTX. Criminal charges could be forthcoming from the US Department of Justice, which is said to be scrutinizing allegations of fraud committed by Bankman-Fried and some of his top lieutenants.