From Larry David to Tom Brady, FTX paid $1.13 Billion in Endorsement Deals says Former Head of Engineering
The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried readjourned Monday morning with FTX's former head of engineering, Nishad Singh, beginning his testimony.
Calling the FTX founder "a formidable character," "brilliant," and "intimidating," Singh first met Bankman-Fried when the two were in high school but didn't become friends until later on. Singh later joined Alameda Research as a software engineer under Bankman-Fried's leadership as CEO.
However, their relationship deteriorated over time as Singh's "respect for him eroded over time when he proved to be untrustworthy." More specifically, Singh stated Bankman-Fried "spent a lot of Alameda's money," calling his approach to spending "excessive."
The jury was then presented with a spreadsheet documenting multiple high-profile endorsement deals, including the now infamous $205 million renaming of Miami-Dade Arena to FTX Arena. Similarly, FTX shelled out $150 million for an endorsement with Major League Baseball.
Moreover, the spreadsheet showed that the company paid $50 million to Tom Brady and Giselle Bündchen for endorsement deals and potential philanthropic endeavors. Brady and Bündchen were just a few of the names on the spreadsheet alongside Larry David, Steph Curry, and Kevin O'Leary, who received endorsement deals worth $10 million, $28 million, and $14 million, respectively.
Singh became increasingly concerned over the amount Bankman-Fried spent on establishing partnerships with high-profile connections, most notably K5 Global co-founders Bryan Baum and Michael Kives.
Bankman-Fried detailed a dinner hosted by Kives that he attended in 2022 in a company email. The dinner contained "the most impressive collection of people in one location I have ever seen," Bankman-Fried wrote, including Amazon
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