Sam Bankman-Fried spent more than $1 billion on celebrity endorsements and naming rights and invested $200 million in a venture capital firm to gain access to investors, a former employee testified Monday. Influencer looking to promote his cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Nishad Singh, a former engineering director at FTX who has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify as a prosecution witness, said Bankman-Fried attended a dinner party in Los Angeles in early 2022 Later agreed to pay the amount, with guests including Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos, Kendall Jen Na and Hillary Clinton, among others. The dinner was hosted by K5 Global, a venture capital company that received investment.
Prosecutors introduce photo from Katy Perry’s Instagram account of Bankman-Fried with Perry, Orlando Bloom, Kate Hudson (Kate Hudson) and K5 executives pictured at the 2022 Super Bowl.
The $1.13 billion in endorsement spending includes naming rights to the Miami Heat’s home court ($205 million), as well as payments to Tom Brady and Giselle Bundchen ($68 million) and Larry Big Larry David ($10 million), all of whom appear in FTX ads. Other payments included Steph Curry ($30 million) and the company behind the video game League of Legends.
Singer, who holds a minority stake in FTX, testified that he objected to the payout, saying it seemed expensive and “really harmful to FTX’s culture.” Singer asked Bankman-Fried if FTX could withdraw, but he was told the deal was done.
“In these areas, increasing FTX’s presence will help drive its success,” Singer testified. He added that Bankman-Fried described K5 in a memo as “one of the things we should be using.” A one-stop relationship store.”