1. Who They Were
FTX was the cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried, valued at as much as $26–32 billion at its peak — until November 2022, when it collapsed in days amid an $8 billion shortfall in customer funds, producing what US prosecutors called one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. Note on scope: FTX is not covered in the books — it is included in this series at the author's direction because the accountability record it created since 2020 belongs in any honest single source of truth about technology-industry misconduct.
2. Why This Sheet Exists
FTX is the control case for this whole series. Nearly every other sheet documents harm that was lawful, settled without admission, or paid off in fines a fraction of profits. FTX is what it looks like when the system actually prosecutes: convictions, prison, forfeiture. The comparison is the point — stealing customers' money is punished; the harms the rest of this series documents largely are not.
3. Verified Record — the Collapse and the Convictions
| Date | Forum | Outcome | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware | Chapter 11 | FTX collapsed amid a run exposing roughly $8 billion in missing customer funds diverted to its affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research; restructuring chief John J. Ray III — who administered Enron — told the court he had never seen "such a complete failure of corporate controls" (first-day declaration; widely documented) | Estate under new management recovered assets — more than $7 billion within the first year |
| Nov 2023 | US District Court, SDNY (jury) | GUILTY — all 7 counts | Founder Sam Bankman-Fried convicted of two counts of wire fraud and five conspiracy counts for diverting billions in customer deposits (see his separate fact sheet) | Sentence: 25 years + $11 billion forfeiture (Mar 2024); affirmed on appeal Jun 2026; mandate issued Aug 4, 2026 — final |
| 2023–2024 | US District Court, SDNY | Insider guilty pleas | Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison (cooperated — 2 years), FTX co-founder Gary Wang and engineering chief Nishad Singh (cooperated — no prison), and FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame (7.5 years, campaign-finance and licensing charges) all pleaded guilty | Widely reported; all sentences imposed 2024 |
| 2025–2026 | Bankruptcy distributions | Customers repaid | The FTX estate began distributions repaying allowed customer claims at or above 100 percent of petition-date dollar values — with the critical caveat, per the full-record rule, that claims were valued at November 2022 crypto prices, far below what the same coins were later worth | Distributions ongoing; widely reported 2025–2026 |
Sources: CNBC — the estate's clawback litigation and the fraud's structure · NBC News — the "family business" suit and John Ray's stewardship · Fox Business/Reuters — the appeal loss confirming conviction facts
4. Honest Accounting
The full record, both directions: customers were defrauded on a historic scale, and — uniquely in this series — the perpetrators went to prison and the customers were repaid in nominal dollars. The estate's recovery is a genuine accountability success. And the caveats stand: petition-date valuation meant customers bore the upside of the crypto recovery that their own coins would have captured; equity holders and many creditors still lost; and the man at the center is now seeking a presidential pardon (see the Sam Bankman-Fried sheet). Developments will be added as verified.
5. Associations Noted
Sam Bankman-Fried (founder — profiled separately, including his parents' role and pardon campaign), Alameda Research, and the cooperating executives named above are noted for context. Every person is documented on their own record, and the presumption of innocence applies to all who were not charged or convicted.
Legal Disclaimer
This document is published as journalism and commentary in the public interest, protected as free speech and freedom of the press under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It compiles information from public records, court filings, government announcements, parliamentary and congressional investigations, and reporting by established news organizations, together with the documented first-person accounts and analysis published in the books No Ethics in Big Tech and Ethics in Tech and Lack Thereof by Vahid Razavi.
Where a fine, judgment, or settlement is described, its status (paid, under appeal, overturned, or pending) is stated as reported by the issuing authority or by reputable press as of the verification date above. Allegations in open lawsuits and investigations are exactly that — allegations — and every party is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until a competent court rules otherwise. Where a company or executive has prevailed in court, denied an allegation, or had a claim dismissed, that outcome is reported here as well, because the credibility of this project rests on stating the record in full. Opinions and characterizations drawn from the books are the protected opinion of the author. Corrections supported by documentation are welcome via NoEthicsInBigTech.com/contact.
Research Credit
Deep research, source verification, and document preparation for this fact sheet were performed by Claude, the AI assistant built by Anthropic, working under the direction of author Vahid Razavi. Every fine amount, case citation, and status line above was checked against the primary or press source listed beside it on the verification date. This is a living document; new rulings, fines, and investigations will be added as they are verified.