FTX CEO and other prominent celebs named in FTX-associated lawsuit

The ex-CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried along with celebrity supporters of FTX like Larry David, Tom Brady, Giselle Bundchen, Shaquille O’Neal, Naomi Osaka, and Stephen Curry are named in a class-action lawsuit.
The abovementioned names are accused of misleading customers to invest in the company.

On November 15, the legal action was filed by Moskowitz and Boies in the name of Oklahoma resident Edwin Garrison. The lawsuit also states that Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly used celebrity promoters to aim “immature investors” in a Ponzi scheme” to make the FTX sustain.

“A portion of the scheme hired by the FTX bodies indulged using a few of the big names in the field of sports and entertainment, like these supporters to generate funds and influence American clients to invest” in FTX’s yield-bearing accounts, which the legal action claims portrayed unlisted securities under federal and Florida law.

The action looks for undetermined financial losses, accusing the FTX downturn resulted in clients losing over $11 billion altogether.

The FTX advertisement

The legal action recognizes David as the legendary comedian and founder of “Seinfeld” and “Curb your Enthusiasm,” who made an appearance in an advertisement for FTX named “Don’t Miss Out on Crypto,” which got on air at the time of 2022 Super Bowl. “The advertisement, the only Super Bowl ad David ever featured in, shows David being a questioner on some technically significant inventions such as the wheel, the fork, the light, and also FTX and notified viewers, “Don’t be like Larry,” the complaint says.

Furthermore, the complaint quotes an advertisement from last year in which Brady and his wife Bundchen made an appearance. The title of that ad was “FTX. You In?” From which they influenced consumers to join the platform.

Apart from that, some other names like the Golden State Warriors, Udonis Haslem, David Oritz, WilliamTrevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani and Kevin O’Leary are associated with this case. According to the legal action, the supporters listed in the complaint either managed, publicized, helped or took active participation in FTX’s business.

“The illusory FTX Platform controlled by the FTX bodies was actually a house of cards, where the FTX bodies mixed customers’ funds between their non-transparent affiliated bodies, utilizing new investor funds gained by investments in the yield-bearing accounts and loans to give interest to the old ones and to try to keep the presence of liquidity,” the complaint reports. A week before, Bankman-Fried left his post as chief executive Officer of FTX.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing