FTX Paid O’Leary as Lewis Researched Bankman-Fried
O’Leary was both an FTX investor and a paid spokesperson before the exchange failed in November 2022. The following month, he disclosed an FTX promotional agreement worth approximately $15 million and said he had put about $9.7 million into cryptocurrency. He also described holding more than $1 million in FTX equity, which he said had become worthless following the bankruptcy.
Lewis, the financial author known for “The Big Short,” spent considerable time with FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) while researching “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.” His book and accompanying interviews examined the former executive’s business and personal life, drawing on access to Bankman-Fried before the exchange’s collapse. The book was released in October 2023, nearly a year after FTX filed for bankruptcy.
Court Kept the $1.76 Billion Recovery Claim in Play
At the center of the lawsuit, filed in November 2024, is the disputed share repurchase agreed to in July 2021. It covered a 20% stake in FTX’s international business and an 18.4% stake in its U.S. parent company. The estate alleged that Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, funded the transaction while FTX was already insolvent.
Payment took the form of FTX’s FTT token, Binance’s BNB token, and BUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin. The plaintiffs characterized the transaction as a fraudulent transfer and sought to recover at least $1.76 billion. Binance and Zhao contested the allegations and sought dismissal, asking the court to throw out the claims.
Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen B. Owens’ opinion allowing the recovery claims to proceed was dated July 24. She dismissed the fraudulent-transfer counts against former Binance executives Samuel Wenjun Lim and Dinghua Xiao, along with separate claims brought under state law against the Binance defendants. The remaining recovery allegations against Zhao and four Binance entities survived those dismissal requests, leaving the repayment dispute unresolved.