Sam Bankman-Fried Says Handing Over FTX was His Biggest Mistake Ever
Former crypto billionaire claims he could have saved FTX before bankruptcy
Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of FTX, now says his “biggest mistake” was giving up control of the $32 billion crypto empire to new management before it filed for bankruptcy. Speaking from prison, the disgraced former CEO told Mother Jones that his decision to hand FTX over to restructuring expert John J. Ray III sealed the company’s fate.
“The single biggest mistake I made by far was handing the company over,” Bankman-Fried said in the interview, revealing that minutes after signing the transfer documents, he received a call about a possible investment that could have saved FTX. But by then, it was too late.
Ray, who was recommended by law firm Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C), took over as CEO on November 11, 2022, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the same day. The collapse exposed an $8.9 billion hole in customer funds — money that prosecutors say was misused by FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, to cover massive trading losses.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas a month later and extradited to the U.S., where he was convicted on seven felony counts and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Meanwhile, the FTX bankruptcy process has become one of the most expensive in crypto history. Legal filings show that Sullivan & Cromwell earned more than $171.8 million in fees by mid-2024. A lawsuit accusing the firm of aiding the alleged fraud was later dropped.
Nearly three years after the meltdown, FTX has repaid about $7.8 billion to creditors, with an estimated $8.7 billion still owed. The estate has pledged to reimburse 98% of customers up to 118% of their account value as of November 2022.
The FTX implosion remains one of crypto’s darkest chapters, sparking a chain reaction of bankruptcies and sending Bitcoin below $16,000 at its lowest point.
