Sam Bankman-Fried, is the second largest donor to the Democrat party and is now broke. Bankman-Fried is the founder of the crypto exchange FTX and used his money to infuse $38 million into Democrat causes during the 2022 election cycle. His donations have focused primarily on green energy initiatives and electing Democrat candidates like Senator-elect John Fetterman in Pennsylvania.
According to Fox News,
“A full-fledged liquidity crisis forced FTX to file for bankruptcy on Friday, and Bankman-Fried’s wealth, which was estimated to be $15.6 billion earlier this week, has sharply plummeted, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The index currently estimates Bankman-Fried has no material wealth.”
Troubled crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried, who lost $15B in a week, funneled millions to Dems, far-left causes https://t.co/DoYn3ZHUIs
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 11, 2022
Bankman-Fried’s FTX posted a press release of their Chapter 11 proceedings, leaving angry investors responding to the tweet asking how they will get their money back.
customer withdrawals first please, i need to feed my kids
— mondecarloz (@mozeloso) November 11, 2022
Bankman-Fried donated $6 million to the Nancy Pelosi-aligned House Majority PAC, which prioritizes electing and maintaining Democrats in Congress’s lower chamber, and $500k to the Chuck Schumer-tied Senate Majority PAC.
He also started a philanthropic collective, the FTX Foundation, to give monies to climate initiatives dedicated to transitioning away from fossil fuels and an organization pushing plant-based meat. Leaders of the collective resigned Friday and said the group would no longer be able to perform its work or process grants.
“We are devastated to say that it looks likely that there are many committed grants that the Future Fund will be unable to honor,” they wrote in a blog post. “We are so sorry that it has come to this.
“We joined the Future Fund to support incredible people and projects, and this outcome is heartbreaking to us.”
Yet despite the apologies for the lack of grant funding, there appears to be no apology to the customers left scrambling to get their money back.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson regarding the large donations, Vivek Ramaswamy suggested that Bankman-Fried possibly believed the Democrats to whom he donated might help him save his company with a bail-out, much like they helped Goldman, who also donated large amounts. So, in essence, the strategy is paying for government financial protection.
In 2008, Goldman mastered the art of crony capitalism: pay up for government protection & get bailed out when you need it most. That’s why Goldman got bailed out while Lehman didn’t. Crypto-dude Sam Bankman-Fried just tried to play the same game by donating $30mm+ to Democrats. pic.twitter.com/D28TjwOozo
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 11, 2022
Blockchain Association Executive Director Kristin Smith told Politico, “This is an absolutely stunning turnaround from somebody who was the darling of Washington policy circles. It was built on a house of cards.”