FTX Paid Around $2.2B to Sam Bankman-Fried, New Management Says

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX transferred $2.2 billion to founder Sam Bankman-Fried through various entities, the firm's new management said.

A total of $3.2 billion was paid to Bankman-Fried and other key employees, according to a Schedules of Assets and Liabilities and Statements of Financial Affairs filed Wednesday, the company said in a statement.

The next largest beneficiary after Bankman-Fried was Director of Engineering Nishad Singh, who received about $587 million. In February, Singh pleaded guilty to charges including fraud and conspiracy for his role in FTX’s collapse.

The payments were made predominantly from the Bankman-Fried-owned trading firm Alameda Research, whose precarious finances set the wheels in motion on FTX's collapse in November.

The amounts listed do not include $240 million spent on luxury property in the Bahamas, nor directly made political or charitable donations.

FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November, shortly after which new CEO John J. Ray III described the firm's downfall as a "complete failure of corporate controls and ... a complete absence of trustworthy financial information."

Read more: FTX Proposes $4M Bonus Program as It Seeks to Retain Staff