7 ms·

How many publications did SBF bribe?

34 points by xqcgrek2 4y ago

codefreeordie 4y ago
Not just publications, either. FTX was the major funder for tons of COVID research (including the very influential "TOGETHER trial")[0] -- [0] https://www.themainewire.com/2022/11/bankrupt-ftx-gave-18-2m-to-early-covid-19-researchers-who-cast-doubt-on-ivermectin-and-hydroxychloroquine/ https://www.themainewire.com/2022/11/bankrupt-ftx-gave-18-2m...
- autotune 4y ago
  Like data from the Nazis inhumane experiments being used to find treatments for hypothermia, the ends do not justify the means.
  - smodo 4y ago
    A Godwin in two comments, that's pretty wild considering the topic.
    - autotune 4y ago
      So I shouldn't have mentioned it because it's a meme, and SBF should be in the clear now because he donated a few dollars of stolen funds, mostly from individuals who got sucked into it, to medical research. Solid.
      - smodo 4y ago
        Yes, but mostly because it is a very weak analogy that teaches us nothing.
        autotune 4y ago
        There are plenty of crypto exchanges still accepting deposits. If you enjoy their philanthropy so much you are welcome to invest your life savings into any of them in hopes of getting rich quick and respecting their reallocation of your funds, having learned nothing from history and from the present of FTX's collapse. If you really want to prove your dedication to the cause I await your screen shots of said deposits showing that you put your money where your mouth is.
letmeinhere 4y ago
Pretty rich coming from David Sacks Edit: recent profile of his media manipulation https://newrepublic.com/article/168125/david-sacks-elon-musk-peter-thiel https://newrepublic.com/article/168125/david-sacks-elon-musk...
- SilverBirch 4y ago
  - dang 4y ago
    Please don't do snark or ideological flamewar on HN. Your comment hasn't added any information—it just repeats the point that letmeinhere already made. We're hoping for curious conversation here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- hanafudafan 4y ago
  You’re poisoning the well. It’s not even subtle, it’s a rough, crude, ham-fisted hatchet job.
  - staticautomatic 4y ago
    How does one hold a hatchet with a ham fist?
robswc 4y ago
There's honestly such a clear bias in how they're handling this whole thing. I see the tides turning slowly though. I just don't understand why they're handling this with kid gloves when you see other people absolutely torn apart for much less.
- SilverBirch 4y ago
  The question isn't "do publications receive donations" it's "does that change their coverage" and given that Vox quite happily completely monstered him immediately, I think we can feel pretty good about the trade off.
  - robswc 4y ago
    I honestly think it has less to do with money and more the fact they want to save face. They spent the last few years building him up. Whether the pretty generous donations contributed to that... would almost be irrelevant. All I'm saying is if SBF were not really "in favor" with many in the establishment/journalists, I feel his shady dealings would have been highlighted vs mitigated. I mean Forbes just put out an article about Coraline where it made her out to be a "misguided, whizz kid." Its great that Vox was blunt... but almost every other publication seems to have dropped the ball.
    - hotpotamus 4y ago
      > Fortune magazine put SBF on its cover this year asking, “The Next Warren Buffett?” Now the author of that story, Jeff John Roberts, confesses, “I was charmed by his nerdy affect as SBF, unkempt in a T-shirt and bushy hair, as he twirled a fidget spinner and rattled off tidbits about everything from M&A strategy to the macroeconomy to the importance of trust in business deals. It was all bullshit, of course, and I didn’t see through it.” https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/11/how-sbf-sweet-talked-the-media.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/11/how-sbf-sweet-talked... I've seen a lot of hate on "the media" for being fooled by Bankman-Fried which is fine, but I get the feeling those who disparage "the media" as a singular entity with a singular agenda weren't really inclined to trust them to begin with.
diogenescynic 4y ago
There's another question that's been irking me... How many other rotten to the core companies are there out there? I wonder how many are able to keep pressing on with their scam and never get caught.
- geoduck14 4y ago
  Here is something clever that I noticed. I was working for a company that spent a LOT of money on advertising. (I supported the call center, not in marketing). I would frequently hear radio ads for my company. I would take note when my company would make the news - simply out of corporate pride. I would also take note when we were involved in something scandalous (we got hacked, we provided services to someone that did unscrupulous stuff, we did unscrupulous stuff). What I noticed is that our advertisements disappeared from news agencies the same week our story aired - and the news agencies didn't disclose support from our company, even if we were portaied in a positive light.
- ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
  I have my doubts on Palantir. Peter Thiel is another one of these big grifters. Made one lucky investment in Facebook and spun his whole life around it as if is some kind of techno genius. Talks about why we don't have flying cars and ends of making an online cesspool of a currency transfer (thank god Stripe came in and dismantled that) and a shady chart.js version of excel sheets. Now how much bribes and stuff are they involved in? I wouldn't be surprised if it's a lot.
Imnimo 4y ago
If he believes that donations have clearly altered the coverage of FTX, I would like to see him predict which media outlets received money but have not yet revealed it.

34 points by xqcgrek2 4y ago

Not just publications, either. FTX was the major funder for tons of COVID research (including the very influential "TOGETHER trial")[0] -- [0] https://www.themainewire.com/2022/11/bankrupt-ftx-gave-18-2m-to-early-covid-19-researchers-who-cast-doubt-on-ivermectin-and-hydroxychloroquine/ https://www.themainewire.com/2022/11/bankrupt-ftx-gave-18-2m...

autotune 4y ago
Like data from the Nazis inhumane experiments being used to find treatments for hypothermia, the ends do not justify the means.
- smodo 4y ago
  A Godwin in two comments, that's pretty wild considering the topic.
  - autotune 4y ago
    So I shouldn't have mentioned it because it's a meme, and SBF should be in the clear now because he donated a few dollars of stolen funds, mostly from individuals who got sucked into it, to medical research. Solid.
    - smodo 4y ago
      Yes, but mostly because it is a very weak analogy that teaches us nothing.
      - autotune 4y ago
        There are plenty of crypto exchanges still accepting deposits. If you enjoy their philanthropy so much you are welcome to invest your life savings into any of them in hopes of getting rich quick and respecting their reallocation of your funds, having learned nothing from history and from the present of FTX's collapse. If you really want to prove your dedication to the cause I await your screen shots of said deposits showing that you put your money where your mouth is.

letmeinhere 4y ago

Pretty rich coming from David Sacks Edit: recent profile of his media manipulation https://newrepublic.com/article/168125/david-sacks-elon-musk-peter-thiel https://newrepublic.com/article/168125/david-sacks-elon-musk...

SilverBirch 4y ago
- dang 4y ago
  Please don't do snark or ideological flamewar on HN. Your comment hasn't added any information—it just repeats the point that letmeinhere already made. We're hoping for curious conversation here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
hanafudafan 4y ago
You’re poisoning the well. It’s not even subtle, it’s a rough, crude, ham-fisted hatchet job.
- staticautomatic 4y ago
  How does one hold a hatchet with a ham fist?

robswc 4y ago

There's honestly such a clear bias in how they're handling this whole thing. I see the tides turning slowly though. I just don't understand why they're handling this with kid gloves when you see other people absolutely torn apart for much less.

SilverBirch 4y ago
The question isn't "do publications receive donations" it's "does that change their coverage" and given that Vox quite happily completely monstered him immediately, I think we can feel pretty good about the trade off.
- robswc 4y ago
  I honestly think it has less to do with money and more the fact they want to save face. They spent the last few years building him up. Whether the pretty generous donations contributed to that... would almost be irrelevant. All I'm saying is if SBF were not really "in favor" with many in the establishment/journalists, I feel his shady dealings would have been highlighted vs mitigated. I mean Forbes just put out an article about Coraline where it made her out to be a "misguided, whizz kid." Its great that Vox was blunt... but almost every other publication seems to have dropped the ball.
  - hotpotamus 4y ago
    > Fortune magazine put SBF on its cover this year asking, “The Next Warren Buffett?” Now the author of that story, Jeff John Roberts, confesses, “I was charmed by his nerdy affect as SBF, unkempt in a T-shirt and bushy hair, as he twirled a fidget spinner and rattled off tidbits about everything from M&A strategy to the macroeconomy to the importance of trust in business deals. It was all bullshit, of course, and I didn’t see through it.” https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/11/how-sbf-sweet-talked-the-media.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/11/how-sbf-sweet-talked... I've seen a lot of hate on "the media" for being fooled by Bankman-Fried which is fine, but I get the feeling those who disparage "the media" as a singular entity with a singular agenda weren't really inclined to trust them to begin with.

diogenescynic 4y ago

There's another question that's been irking me... How many other rotten to the core companies are there out there? I wonder how many are able to keep pressing on with their scam and never get caught.

geoduck14 4y ago
Here is something clever that I noticed. I was working for a company that spent a LOT of money on advertising. (I supported the call center, not in marketing). I would frequently hear radio ads for my company. I would take note when my company would make the news - simply out of corporate pride. I would also take note when we were involved in something scandalous (we got hacked, we provided services to someone that did unscrupulous stuff, we did unscrupulous stuff). What I noticed is that our advertisements disappeared from news agencies the same week our story aired - and the news agencies didn't disclose support from our company, even if we were portaied in a positive light.
ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
I have my doubts on Palantir. Peter Thiel is another one of these big grifters. Made one lucky investment in Facebook and spun his whole life around it as if is some kind of techno genius. Talks about why we don't have flying cars and ends of making an online cesspool of a currency transfer (thank god Stripe came in and dismantled that) and a shady chart.js version of excel sheets. Now how much bribes and stuff are they involved in? I wouldn't be surprised if it's a lot.

Imnimo 4y ago

If he believes that donations have clearly altered the coverage of FTX, I would like to see him predict which media outlets received money but have not yet revealed it.