- In order to promote FTX, money was given to athletes and leagues.
- Experts are looking into whether or not payments were properly made to the athletes.
The new FTX administration has consulted with financial experts to determine whether or not it is possible to recoup the millions of dollars that were distributed to athletes, teams, and organizations for promoting the defunct cryptocurrency exchange.
Moreover, according to court documents cited by Bloomberg, experts are looking into whether or not payments were properly made to athletes like former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and tennis pro Naomi Osaka in the days leading up to the Chapter 11 filing.
One of the major cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, filed for bankruptcy in the United States in November 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the company’s founder and former CEO, is due to stand trial in October on fraud and other allegations.
Eyeing Millions of Dollars
In order to raise awareness of the crypto exchange, money was given to athletes and sports leagues. Also, many of them, the advisors claim, were upfront costs for things like advertising or sponsorship partnerships with groups like MLB or NBA franchises.
FTX cautioned that the advisors’ declarations may be incomplete, but they still reveal that around $4.9 million was sent to MLB, another $12.2 million was tied to collaboration agreements with Formula 1 racing club Mercedes-AMG Petronas, and $3.4 million was paid to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
A $2.5 million payment was made by an FTX subsidiary to an O’Neal-affiliated entity of Authentic Brands Group in August 2022. This was part of a $4.3 million payout to Shaq and his business. Osaka allegedly received $2 million in early November, bringing her total earnings from partnership and endorsement arrangements to roughly $3.2 million.
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