FTX's High-Flying Lifestyle: Eye-Popping Bills Of Sam Bankman-Fried And Co. On Beach Resorts, Jets, And DoorDash Splurges

Late last year, FTX, then one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, collapsed and filed for bankruptcy, leaving customers to furiously wondering what happened to their deposits. 

In a series of interviews shortly after the downfall, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said he wasn't really sure what happened to the money because he no longer had access to the books. Well, it turns out Bankman-Fried and other FTX execs blew it on housing, planes, yachts, food and a lot more. 

What To Know: FTX halted withdrawals in November 2022 after liquidity concerns surfaced related to the crypto exchange's ties to trading firm Alameda Research. As customers rushed to withdraw their funds, there wasn't enough money to cover the requests. 

It was partially because FTX had transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to Alameda to make risky bets on crypto assets. It was also because of the lavish spending habits of Bankman-Fried and other FTX execs. 

See Also: Sam Bankman-Fried Strikes Back: FTX Mastermind's Bold Move To Crush Accusations

Authorities in FTX's bankruptcy case said more than $8 billion in customer funds were initially unaccounted for. Here's a look at some of the most ridiculous things the crypto company blew money on, per a Business Insider report citing court documents.

• Real Estate In The Bahamas: FTX reportedly purchased 35 properties in the Bahamas valued at more than $256 million, including 15 multi-million dollar condos and a $30 million penthouse Bankman-Fried lived in.
• Luxury Hotels: FTX execs spent more than $15 million on hotel bookings in approximately nine months. $5.8 million of that was spent at one hotel, which can cost up to $60,000 per night. The company also racked up a bill of close to $600,000 at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville resort. FTX had approximately 20 suites for staff and a private shuttle bus that would take them to and from the office. 
• Private Planes For Packages: FTX reportedly inked a deal with an air carrier to fly all company employees' Amazon.com Inc AMZN packages from the U.S. to the Bahamas. Amazon doesn't deliver to the Bahamas so the deal cost millions. In just nine months, FTX spent close to $4 million on private package delivery flights and another $500,000 on postage-related expenses. 
• Food Delivery: FTX gave all of its employees $200 to use on DoorDash Inc DASH on a daily basis. It's not clear how much the crypto company spent, but from May to June 2022, FTX spent at least $350,000 on DoorDash orders. 
• A Yacht: Alameda's co-CEO John Samuel Trabucco bought a yacht he named "Soak My Deck" for $2.5 million. He stepped down from the company in September 2022 and tweeted that he had "a desire to go fast over the nice water."
• Executive Salaries: FTX paid a total of $3.2 billion to personal accounts of company executives. $2.2 billion was paid to Bankman-Fried and hundreds of millions were paid to other company execs. Some of the money was used to fund politicians ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. 

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