In a near real-time saga unfolding on Twitter, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, denied speculation he had fled to Argentina as the saga surrounding his defunct cryptocurrency exchange continued to unfold.
On Nov. 12, Bankman-Fried, who also goes by SBF, sent Reuters the following text: ‘Still in The Bahamas.’ When Reuters asked him whether he had flown to Argentina, as the rumors claim, he replied: ‘No.’
SBF’s flight path was tracked on ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website, after users believed he had fled Chapter 11 bankruptcy for FTX Group, which includes FTX Trading, FTX US and Alameda Research. On November 12, they suspected that he had arrived in Buenos Aires on a private jet from Nassau, Bahamas, on the direct route.
It is always stiff to stand up straight after sitting for a long time.
The rumour is SBF on his way to Argentina.. pic.twitter.com/Jnxm3bprm9
— CoinMamba (@coinmamba) November 12, 2022
In addition to living in a luxury penthouse in Nassau, Bankman-Fried reportedly shares the apartment with Caroline Ellison, the CEO of Alameda Research, among other people.
🚨Just landed Sam Bankman-Fried @SBF_FTX Private Jet touches down in Buenos Aires Argentina LVKEB on the run #FTX 🚨 pic.twitter.com/DD4Gy9nguk
— 0xMeTaNeeR 🍥 (@0xMetaNeeR) November 12, 2022
SBF was once hailed as one of the crypto industry’s greatest success stories. In the past week, FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, went from one of the planet’s most valuable companies with a worth of $32 billion to a bankrupt firm with a $8 billion gap in its accounts. As a result of FTX’s demise, Bloomberg reported that SBF’s net worth dropped from $16 trillion to $0.
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FTX received billions in venture capital over the last few years, receiving backing from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Circle Internet Financial, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, Paul Tudor Jones, and Sequoia Capital.