4 ms·

He also donated a ton to Republicans. He was trying to buy crypto regulation. Those people aren't his friends. If anything they see him as an embarrassment/li

He also donated a ton to Republicans. He was trying to buy crypto regulation. Those people aren't his friends. If anything they see him as an embarrassment/liability now.

happyopossum 4y ago
$235,000 out of nearly $40,000,000 isn’t “a ton”. It’s barely enough to even register - but it does make the media narrative sound better as he goes down in flames to be able to say he donated to both parties. [0] https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-sam-bankman-fried-spent-his-way-into-the-good-graces-of-washington-then-lost-it-all/ https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-s...
- trequartista 4y ago
  He also funneled almost an equal amount of dark money to Republicans. Plenty of sources for this - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankman-fried-donations-democrat-republican/672368/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankma...
  - totalZero 4y ago
    Hold your horses sir. Both of those links cite the same not-reliable source: a comment [0] made by Sam Bankman-Fried in a conversation with crypto YouTuber Tiffany Fong. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- acdha 4y ago
  According to SBF, so potentially unreliable source: > “I donated to both parties. I donated about the same amount to both parties,” Bankman-Fried told the crypto commentator and citizen journalist Tiffany Fong. > “All my Republican donations were dark,” he said, referring to political donations that are not publicly disclosed. “The reason was not for regulatory reasons, it’s because reporters freak the fuck out if you donate to Republicans. They’re all super liberal, and I didn’t want to have that fight.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... This isn't terribly different from the pattern we see with a lot of tech companies where direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates have the opposite trend (varying in degree based on the industry and balance of power where the company's interests lie).
  - totalZero 4y ago
    At this point it would be naive to take at face value anything SBF said about his money. Financially speaking, he appears to be the world's biggest liar of 2022. > direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates Rather than speculating, we could alternatively choose to look at some numbers: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9mMrNynuwTlURDX1QWT3T_ck https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9...
    - acdha 4y ago
      I’m aware that he publicly donated to Democratic PACs. I was just trying to illustrate that there’s considerable precedent for someone being strategic about which donations they think will be unpopular with their friends, customers, employees, etc. Given that he basically ran a money laundering machine this is extremely plausible - the amounts which various people reportedly embezzled would be plenty to fund a ton of PAC spending and it’ll take forensic accountants years to figure out whether that happened.
- jeromegv 4y ago
  Now add his co-founder, 24 millions https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-politics-ryan-salame-sbf-sam-bankman-fried/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-po...
- bink 4y ago
  His co-CEO donated $24 million to Republicans. Not that I think any of this has any relevancy. It's just more tribalism and distraction. I'm a bit sad that it's so prevalent on a site that values honest and open debate. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-among-top-political-donors-before-bankruptcy-11668949205 https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-amon...

He also donated a ton to Republicans. He was trying to buy crypto regulation. Those people aren't his friends. If anything they see him as an embarrassment/liability now.

happyopossum 4y ago

$235,000 out of nearly $40,000,000 isn’t “a ton”. It’s barely enough to even register - but it does make the media narrative sound better as he goes down in flames to be able to say he donated to both parties. [0] https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-sam-bankman-fried-spent-his-way-into-the-good-graces-of-washington-then-lost-it-all/ https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/megadonor-no-more-s...

trequartista 4y ago
He also funneled almost an equal amount of dark money to Republicans. Plenty of sources for this - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankman-fried-donations-democrat-republican/672368/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/sam-bankma...
- totalZero 4y ago
  Hold your horses sir. Both of those links cite the same not-reliable source: a comment [0] made by Sam Bankman-Fried in a conversation with crypto YouTuber Tiffany Fong. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DezodR9hNI&t=774s
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
acdha 4y ago
According to SBF, so potentially unreliable source: > “I donated to both parties. I donated about the same amount to both parties,” Bankman-Fried told the crypto commentator and citizen journalist Tiffany Fong. > “All my Republican donations were dark,” he said, referring to political donations that are not publicly disclosed. “The reason was not for regulatory reasons, it’s because reporters freak the fuck out if you donate to Republicans. They’re all super liberal, and I didn’t want to have that fight.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billionaire-sam-bankman-fried-dark-money-republicans https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/30/ftx-billi... This isn't terribly different from the pattern we see with a lot of tech companies where direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates have the opposite trend (varying in degree based on the industry and balance of power where the company's interests lie).
- totalZero 4y ago
  At this point it would be naive to take at face value anything SBF said about his money. Financially speaking, he appears to be the world's biggest liar of 2022. > direct employee donations often favor Democrats but donations to PACs which then support candidates Rather than speculating, we could alternatively choose to look at some numbers: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9mMrNynuwTlURDX1QWT3T_ck https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Wq2kPw3C4X_50Tqc8H9...
  - acdha 4y ago
    I’m aware that he publicly donated to Democratic PACs. I was just trying to illustrate that there’s considerable precedent for someone being strategic about which donations they think will be unpopular with their friends, customers, employees, etc. Given that he basically ran a money laundering machine this is extremely plausible - the amounts which various people reportedly embezzled would be plenty to fund a ton of PAC spending and it’ll take forensic accountants years to figure out whether that happened.
jeromegv 4y ago
Now add his co-founder, 24 millions https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-politics-ryan-salame-sbf-sam-bankman-fried/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/01/crypto-po...
bink 4y ago
His co-CEO donated $24 million to Republicans. Not that I think any of this has any relevancy. It's just more tribalism and distraction. I'm a bit sad that it's so prevalent on a site that values honest and open debate. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-among-top-political-donors-before-bankruptcy-11668949205 https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-team-amon...