Sam Bankman-Fried's Family Drama: Dad Leverages Mom In FTX Salary Dispute

A new court filing has revealed that Sam Bankman-Fried's father, Joseph Bankman, pressured his son for a higher salary while he was working at FTX US, using Sam's mother to do so.

In an email to Bankman-Fried, his father wrote, "Gee, Sam I don't know what to say here. This is the first [I] have heard of the 200K a year salary! Putting Barbara on this." Barbara is Bankman-Fried's mother. 

This intriguing development will be a topic of discussion at Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 14, where industry experts will delve into the intricacies of the crypto world and its future.

The court documents further reveal that as FTX veered towards bankruptcy, Bankman's involvement with the company intensified.

Also Read: Royal Gemstones' €5 Million Portfolio To Embrace Blockchain Tokenization

Despite having an employment agreement detailing a $200,000 annual salary, Bankman expressed dissatisfaction with his monthly pay, lobbying his son for an increase.

This move seemed to have paid off, as both Bankman and Fried received substantial financial benefits shortly after.

The documents also highlight Bankman's influence in directing FTX Group-funded charitable donations and his involvement in various projects, some of which were deemed wasteful in terms of company funds.

One such project, the "FTX Million Dollar Hackathon and Crypto Summit," held at the Miami Heat Arena (then named "FTX Arena"), was attended by fewer than 1,200 people, costing the company over $2.3 million.

Additionally, Bankman was implicated in efforts to cover up a whistleblower complaint from 2019 that alleged certain entities within the FTX Group were involved in cryptocurrency price manipulation, money laundering, and operating an unlicensed money transmitter business.

Read Next: Tether To Unleash $1B Liquidity Flood On Tron Network For Imminent Issuance Demands

"Meet and engage with transformative Digital Asset and Crypto business leaders and investors at Benzinga's exclusive event - Future of Digital Assets. Tickets are flying-  get yours!

Photo: wikimedia.org