FTX spend the most money on luxury hotels, flights, and food, with a total of $40 million spent close to nine months before its collapse. The funds were divided, with $15 million allocated for high-end accommodation, including over $5.8 million on the Albany Hotel, where Sam Bankman Fried lived before his arrest.
A sum of $3.6 million was put down for the Grand Hyatt. This is a four-star hotel where the British royalty was hosted in March. Another $800,000 went towards the five-start Rosewood resort.
Additionally, research shows that almost $7 million went to meals and entertainment, with catering services accounting for around half of that total. Over $500,000 was spent on shipping and delivery, while nearly $4 million was used on flights.
According to the London Financial Times, FTX managed to have his amazon orders flown to a Miami depot since there were no deliveries to the Bahamas. FTX added that they provided the Bahamas staff a “full suite of cars and gas covered for all employees [and] unlimited, full expense covered trips to any office globally.”
A former employee mentioned that the company is making luxury expenditures a habit. She said, “The entire operation was iconically and moronically inefficient.”
In addition, FTX also shared his wealth and donated to local charities and organizations in the Bahamas. Reports stated that many of these donations need to be returned to the Caribbean Island nation can move on.
What’s with Bankman Fried?
The former FTX CEO had been under house arrest since December 22 at his parents’ California home. Due to the plea hearing, he traveled back to New York. In addition, Bankman-bail Fried’s required him to refrain from accessing or moving any bitcoin or assets from FTX or Alameda; this was most likely in response to rumors that he had done so while at home, according to Judge Lewis Kaplan.
On January 3, Bankman-Fried submitted a nonguilty plea to eight criminal accusations before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison have previously entered guilty pleas to related offenses.