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SBF

For Ryan Salame to flip on Sam Bankman-Fried would suggest, symbolically at least, that his goose is cooked.

The Salame Witch Trial

Will S.B.F.’s former lieutenant finally succumb to the feds’ relentless pressure to flip? Or have tales of his demise been greatly exaggerated?
Theodore Schleifer • August 16, 2023
Theodore Schleifer • August 2, 2023
DeSantis’s Donor Disappointment & S.B.F.’s Forever Purgatory
Ron DeSantis’s donor roll has a striking absence of notable Silicon Valley names.
The ’24 kingmakers in Silicon Valley have at last been revealed, and this cycle is full of surprises—think Jan Koum, not Elon Musk. Plus, are Bankman-Fried’s former political allies finally off the hook?
William D. Cohan • July 30, 2023
The Latest S.B.F. Legal Saga
S.B.F.’s biggest problem continues to emanate from John J. Ray III, the new FTX C.E.O., who has made it his mission to recover as many assets as possible for the bankrupt estate and its forlorn creditors and customers.
A talmudic reading of FTX C.E.O. John Ray’s latest report.
Ken Griffin has always been a politically aware center-right rich guy, sure, but he’s ascended to a new level on the G.O.P. donor Mount Rushmore after Trump.
Theodore Schleifer & William D. Cohan • July 25, 2023
Griffin vs. Dimon & The S.B.F. Delusion
A conversational power ranking of the top donors on Wall Street: Effron, Fink, Wolf, Schwarzman, and more. Plus notes on Ken Griffin’s DeSantis bet, Dimon’s ’24 flirtation, and whether S.B.F. is destined for the clink.
Ryan Salame and Michelle Bond were not married, even if they appeared to spend practically every waking moment together, traipsing about Greek community festivals and luxury car races.
Theodore Schleifer • July 19, 2023
An S.B.F. Arm Twist for Crypto’s Bonnie & Clyde
How Ryan Salame and Michelle Bond, the Potomac power couple fueled by FTX money, found themselves in the crosshairs of federal prosecutors and a jilted ex-husband with a joint interest in their downfall.
John J. Ray’s second interim report, filed at the tail end of June to the FTX independent directors and the Delaware bankruptcy court, is a doozy.
William D. Cohan • July 12, 2023
The S.B.F. Legal Colonoscopy, Part 2
In his second interim report on the FTX disaster, interim C.E.O. and financial catastrophe auditor to the stars John J. Ray describes a Bosch painting of stunning criminal machinations by Sam Bankman-Fried and his principal internal attorney, Daniel Friedberg. Herewith, a Talmudic reading...
Why was it was largely people like Ben McKenzie, who existed outside TradFi (as the kids say these days), that spotted S.B.F.’s antics early on?
William D. Cohan • June 21, 2023
S.B.F. and an ‘O.C.’ Star Walk Into a Hotel…
Before Bankman-Fried’s downfall, the actor Ben McKenzie engaged in on-and-off correspondence with the alleged crypto scammer. Nearly a year later, McKenzie reflects on how S.B.F.’s purported crimes were “even dumber and simpler than I thought.”
Theodore Schleifer • June 15, 2023
Scenes from S.B.F.’s Summer Vacation
Momentarily freed from house confinement to attend a court hearing in New York, America’s most notorious defendant catches an unexpected break.
Jack Dorsey politics have always been anti-establishment above all else, with a particular interest in radicals who challenge the party’s progressive-ish gospel.
Theodore Schleifer • June 6, 2023
Jack & Bobby 2.0
News and notes from around the political donor universe: a Reid Hoffman controversy in Denver, Tim Draper’s Haley endorsement, and Robert Kennedy Jr.’s new money buddy, Jack Dorsey.
“Bankman-Fried,” his lawyers stated, “has not defrauded anyone, nor intended to defraud anyone.”
Eriq Gardner • May 15, 2023
S.B.F.’s Varsity Blues Defense
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried are hoping to turn a seemingly slam-dunk prosecution into an inscrutable legalistic debate over the definition of “fraud,” itself. It might just work.