Drawing upon leaked private writings of Sam Bankman-Fried, fallen mogul of crypto exchange FTX, The New York Times provides a penetrating look at the mind of one of the crypto world’s most controversial figures. In noteworthy passages, Bankman-Fried notably refrains from owning up to the loss of $8 billion of investor funds, seems to lament his tarnished public image more than his potential prison sentence, and maintains that he acted according to what he deemed correct.
Bankman-Fried has faced severe backlash in the aftermath of his crypto empire’s downfall, with many investors losing their life savings. ‘I’m broke and wearing an ankle monitor and one of the most hated people in the world,” he was quoted, a statement that some might say reveals misplaced self-pity. Even without proper context, such a comment might read as extraordinarily self-focused, given that his actions led to substantial financial losses for multitude of people.
The former FTX CEO lived a flamboyant lifestyle, marked by luxury property, private jets, and on-demand delivery, shattering his cultivated image of an everyday billionaire driving a Corolla. His accompanying insistence that he made decisions based on personal principles presents an unsettling “ends justify the means” mindset.
The concept of “effective altruism” – deriving maximum social impact by accumulating wealth – was part of his operating philosophy. This belief’s inefficacy has been compounded by the recent troublesome events, where Bankman-Fried’s actions are now being scrutinized under their consequential outcomes.
A distressing family portrait unfolds alongside Bankman-Fried’s disposition, magnifying the fallout of the FTX debacle. His parents, respectable Stanford Law School professors, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried remained supportive even when he put their property in jeopardy by breaking bail.
Their continuing support was not casual, as Bankman was often sighted at FTX board meetings offering tax advice, while Bankman-Fried seemed to have adopted his mother’s ethical system. His close relation to consequentialism – the moral outlook that evaluates the ethicality of an action based on its consequences – raises the question of whether the resultant losses were given due consideration.
Unfortunately, in spite of his philosophical background, there seems to be a lack of introspection from Bankman-Fried about his own decisions. Externally, he seems to find fault in others such as his ex-partner and former employee, Caroline Ellison, blaming her for one bad trade that led to the company’s bankruptcy.
Different perspectives outline the narrative that he misappropriated user funds, but in a curious twist of events, purity and truth to one’s principles becomes the thematic undertone of Bankman-Fried’s estoppel. Ironically, he alludes to his commitment to truth in a document titled ‘Truth’, a sad juxtaposition given the gravity of the situation that he seems so unwilling to confront.
Source: Coindesk
