When Sam Bankman-Fried began promoting cryptocurrency exchange FTX in earnest, he made a list of celebrities he wanted to flog the company, according to The New York Times. At the top of his list was former NFL quarterback Tom Brady.
Now, Brady is on another list: celebrities being sued for promoting the now-bankrupt business.
Bankman-Fried faces a long jail term if he is convicted of misappropriating some $8 billion in customer funds before his company went bankrupt last year. The former billionaire faces decades in prison if convicted on all seven charges.
On the sidelines of the case are a shocking number of celebrities the wunderkind convinced to help promote his exchange—from a pop star to a quarterback to a comedy legend. According to filings in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, FTX doled out $4.9 million to Major League Baseball, at least $12.2 million to a Formula 1 racing team, and $3.4 million to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors in an attempt to make his company a household name. And that was just the beginning.
Many of these stars are named in a class-action suit filed by FTX investors, who claim the celebrities improperly promoted unlicensed securities. The celebrities have filed a motion to dismiss.
Other stars have not been named in any legal proceedings but have seen their reputations tarnished by their association with the now-failed startup. Here are the VIPs who lent FTX their name—and got burned.
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
The NFL quarterback and his then-wife signed a “long-term partnership” with the exchange in 2021 after being recruited by FTX executive Sina Nader, according to The New York Times.
In a press release about the partnership, which referred to the then-couple as “global icons,” Brady praised Bankman-Fried and the “revolutionary FTX team” that “continue to open my eyes to the endless possibilities.”
“This particular opportunity showed us the importance of educating people about the power of crypto while simultaneously giving back to our communities and planet,” he said.
The pair starred in a $20 million ad spot that played during NFL games, which showed them recruiting acquaintances to join the platform. Brady also filmed TikToks with Bankman-Fried backstage at the 2022 “Crypto Bahamas” conference, where they teamed up for a talk called “Winning.” Bündchen hosted a talk at the conference about an ethical philosophy Bankman-Fried espoused called effective altruism.
The Times previously reported that Brady got $30 million in stock and Bündchen $18 million as compensation. But Michael Lewis, the author of a recently released book on FTX, told 60 Minutes that Brady was paid $55 million for “20 hours a year for three years.”
“[Brady] really liked him and he really liked the hope that he brought,” he said. “As time has gone by and he’s ceased to get a really good explanation about what’s happened, I think [Brady] is just like, ‘He tricked me. I’m angry. I don’t want to have anything to do with it anymore.’”
Bündchen told Vanity Fair she was “blindsided” by the exchange’s failure. “I’m no different than everyone else that trusted the hype,” she said. “I’m so sorry for all of us that this happened, and I just pray that justice gets made.”
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
Steph Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Golden State Warriors
Curry also signed on to a “long-term partnership” with the company for which he received an equity stake, according to a press release from 2021 that said the NBA superstar would serve as a “global ambassador” and “tout the viability of cryptocurrency to new audiences around the world.”
Curry shot a national ad campaign in which he declares he is “not an expert” on crypto but doesn’t have to be. “With FTX, I have everything I need to buy, sell, and trade crypto safely,” he says. He also created a line of nearly 3,000 NFTs, accessible via FTX, that sold for $499; proceeds went to Curry’s charity, but according to Lewis, he earned $35 million for promoting the exchange.
Curry and his team, the Golden State Warriors, are defendants in the class action lawsuit. The team emblazoned an FTX logo on the floor of its home court and issued NFTs through the exchange, according to the suit.
FTX also paid NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal $750,000 to hawk its service,
