Sam Bankman-Fried Not a Billionaire Anymore

Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX CEO, is no longer listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index after his estimated personal wealth declined approximately 94% to $991.5 million in a single day.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Binance CEO, on Tuesday, made an announcement saying he had inked a provisional agreement to take over FTX after concerns mounted about the exchange’s apparent insolvency, which slowed down withdrawals and freefall in FTX’s native token.

Before FTX’s cash crunch, the company’s CEO was worth an estimated $15.2 billion, but according to Blomberg, $14.6 billion was wiped out overnight. SBF, one of the crypto industry’s darlings, rapidly rose to financial success in his youth, and his eccentric personality, combined with his supposed penchant for sleeping on a beanbag in the office, made him all the more lovable.

A self-described “effective altruist,” Bankman-Fried made big promises earlier in the year of donating the majority of his fortune, valued at $21 billion at the time, to charity. He promised to spend about $1 billion to support political candidates aligned with his broader mission of preparing for future pandemics.

Bankman-Fried spent about $40 million ahead of the midterm elections with passable success. However, he then backed away from his promise and called it a “dumb quote.”