Former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried Regrets Handing Control Before $8B Collapse

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has stated that his "single biggest mistake" was handing control of the company to new CEO John J. Ray III just before its November 2022 bankruptcy filing. He claims this decision prevented him from capitalizing on a last-minute potential investment that might have saved the company. Under Ray's leadership, FTX quickly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and engaged the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which has been criticized for profiting heavily from the process. Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud related to the misuse of customer funds, particularly to cover trading losses at Alameda Research, FTX's sister firm. While Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and blames the accelerated collapse on Ray and the law firm, Ray counters that FTX was mismanaged under Bankman-Fried's control. Meanwhile, efforts to recover and repay creditors continue, with billions of dollars already distributed and further repayments planned.