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Theodore Schleifer

A former Recode and CNN reporter, now covering power, influence, and money in Silicon Valley.

THE LATEST ARTICLES
NEWSLETTERS
At a high level, Reid Hoffman doesn’t view the Florida governor as an existential threat to democracy, unlike Trump, and believes he may even have the ability to successfully govern.
SILICON VALLEY • March 21, 2023
S.B.F. Informants & a Strange DeSantis Bedfellow
New details on the subpoenas and next cards to flip in the FTX campaign-finance case. Plus, why Reid Hoffman might be offering some unlikely assistance to DeSantis.
As the public bickered over what would constitute a bailout for SVB, Ron Conway, a political mega-connector, felt he was uniquely positioned to help foam the runway.
SILICON VALLEY • March 14, 2023
The Ron Conway Bailout
Was the insidery uber-angel the factor—with his last-minute call to Kamala, intimate dinners with Obama, and furtive emails to Andreessen—in getting the White House to truly perceive the horrors of an SVB collapse?
Prosecutors may see the case against Sam Bankman-Fried as Bernie Madoff 2.0, but S.B.F.’s got good lawyers.
SILICON VALLEY • March 7, 2023
Will S.B.F. Cut a Deal?
A close reading of the latest developments and looming mysteries: Can S.B.F. flip on a politician? Is Ryan Salame the next FTX insider to plead guilty? What will happen to the parents, Barbara and Joe, and to the brother, G.B.F? And will the case even make it to trial?
aHigh-ranking FTX executives Ryan Salame and Nishad Singh appear central to an alleged straw-donor scheme quarterbacked by S.B.F.
SILICON VALLEY • February 28, 2023
Inside S.B.F.’s “Woke Shit” Influence Scheme
FTX executives Nishad Singh, who on Tuesday pleaded guilty to campaign-finance charges, and Ryan Salame were simultaneously players and pawns in S.B.F.’s political influence machine in Washington.
The allegation in the indictment doesn’t concern the fact that S.B.F. and his allies coordinated their political contributions—instead, the S.D.N.Y. describes something far more brazen.
SILICON VALLEY • February 23, 2023
Decoding the S.B.F. Political Conspiracy
The prosecution’s new narrative correctly ignores the coordination of political contributions in S.B.F. world and focuses instead on a more brazen fraud.
A new federal investigation suggests that the political and campaign-finance elements of the S.B.F. case may be broader than originally known.
SILICON VALLEY • February 21, 2023
The Next S.B.F. Legal Riddle: What’s in Puerto Rico?
An elite unit of the Department of Justice has taken an interest in the political side of the FTX case, raising the possibility of more indictments to come.
Since last November, any exposure to Sam or his money has been like a scarlet letter, forcing nearly all of his political aides to lawyer up and play defense against federal investigations—and FTX itself.
SILICON VALLEY • February 14, 2023
S.B.F.’s Unsolved Dark-Money Mysteries
A Taldmudic reading of exclusively obtained FTX filings suggests the next steps in this unfolding drama: finding out what Gabe Bankman-Fried knew about Salame’s dark money machine, S.B.F.’s ties to David McCormick, and more.
Oracle chairman Larry Ellison has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Trump, and more recently, he has privately expressed that he’s ready to see the G.O.P. turn the page.
SILICON VALLEY • February 7, 2023
Silicon Valley G.O.P. Donor Spin-the-Bottle
For once, all the intrigue in the tech donor community is on the right—with conservative billionaires picking their dance partners for 2024, navigating the Trump question, and contemplating the “DeSantasy.”
Last week, Gabe Bankman-Fried—brother of S.B.F.— was threatened with a subpoena by FTX, Sam’s former company.
SILICON VALLEY • January 31, 2023
The Brothers Bankman-Fried
Gabe Bankman-Fried rode his brother’s reputation, and moolah, to political-donor stardom. Can he survive Sam’s fall?
Barbara Fried and Mind the Gap raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Democratic causes, turning Fried into a minor political celebrity.
SILICON VALLEY • January 24, 2023
S.B.F. Mama Drama
Barbara Fried was a beloved law professor whose midlife political awakening inspired Mind the Gap, a powerful network of 2,500 donors that helped the Democrats dominate the ’18 midterms. Now, she’s the latest victim of her son, Sam Bankman-Fried.
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