FTX Collapse Made Spokesperson Kevin O'Leary Lost $15 Million

FTX crash is troubling dozens of its promoters.
FTX was the third biggest crypto exchange in the crypto sector.

The globally popular cryptocurrency exchange failures have scared crypto users, investors, and approximately a dozen companies that are worst affected by the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange.

The crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, and the founder and chief executive officer of FTX, Sam Bankman Fried, was the one who filed the company’s bankruptcy; soon after bankruptcy, he resigned from his position at the firm.

Kevin O’Leary, the judge and investor of ‘Shark Tank, noted in an interview with CNBC that he lost all the amount FTX paid to Kevin to act as the exchange’s spokesperson.

FTX investors and users sued Kevin and several other celebrities for promoting the exchange at an extreme level, which may have resulted in the collapse of FTX.

Kevin highlighted that the “Total deal was just under $15 million, all in,” he added, “I put about $9.7 million into crypto. I think that’s what I lost. I don’t know. It’s all at zero.”

The sudden collapse of FTX has reputationally damaged and financially damaged Kevin and many other celebrities and forced them to face legal proceedings against them.

It is important to note that Kevin invested more than a million in FTX equity, which is now worthless or useless, and the remaining amount went into taxation and agent fees.

It is believed that Kevin was promoting FTX on a large scale on Twitter and other social media and often quoted his good relations with the founder of FTX.

Kevin noted that he invested the amount he received for being a spokesperson of FTX because, as per the exchange norm, he needed to invest back in FTX.

Recently on December 8, 2022, TheCoinRepublic reported that FTX was on the brink of signing a sponsorship deal with Taylor Swift. Still, the deal did not reach the finalisation part due to some severe reasons.

The sponsorship deal of Taylor was opposed by some of the members of the FTX marketing team, and a close link quoted that “No one really liked the deal. It was too expensive from the beginning,” lead added, “very high,” “That’s front of the soccer jersey level prices.”

It should be noted that for all those celebrities who endorse crypto firms, the recent FTX collapse was the loudest lesson. Still, before the collapse, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was cracking down on plugs without proper disclosures. The Texas examination is a reminder that state securities laws might also apply.

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