FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried built a $22.5 billion fortune at age 29 by profiting off the cryptocurrency frenzy – but he’s not a true believer. He just wants his wealth to survive long enough to give it all away.
Four years ago, Bankman-Fried had yet to buy a single bitcoin. Now, five months shy of his 30th birthday, he debuts on this year’s Forbes 400 at No. 32, with a net worth of $22.5 billion. Save for Mark Zuckerberg, no one in history has ever gotten so rich so young. The irony? Bankman-Fried is no crypto evangelist. He’s barely even a believer. He’s a mercenary, dedicated to making as much money as possible (he doesn’t really care how) solely so he can give it away (he doesn’t really know to whom, or when).
Steve Jobs obsessed over his sleek and simple products. Elon Musk claims he’s in business to save humanity. Not Bankman-Fried, whose philosophy of “earning to give” drove him into the crypto gold rush, first as a trader, then as the creator of an exchange, simply because he knew he could get rich. Asked if he would abandon crypto if he thought he could pile up more money doing something else—say, trading orange juice futures—he doesn’t even pause: “I would, yeah.”
At the moment, Bankman-Fried’s “effective altruism,” the utilitarian-inflected notion of doing the most good possible, is almost entirely theoretical. So far, he has given away just $25 million, about 0.1% of his fortune, placing him among the least charitable members of The Forbes 400. He’s betting that he’ll eventually be able to multiply his giving by a factor of at least 900 by continuing to ride the crypto wave instead of cashing out now.
Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, which enables traders to buy and sell digital assets such as bitcoin and Ethereum, raised $900 million from the likes of Coinbase Ventures and SoftBank in July at an $18 billion valuation. It handles some 10% of the $3.4 trillion face value of derivatives (mostly futures and options) traded by crypto investors each month. FTX pockets 0.02% of each of those trades on average, good for around $750 million in nearly risk-free revenue—and $350 million in profit—over the last 12 months. Separately, his trading firm, Alameda Research, booked $1 billion in profit last year making well-timed trades of its own. Lately Bankman-Fried has been hitting the TV circuit to opine on bitcoin prices, regulations and the future of digital assets.
00:00 Who is Sam Bankman Fried?
01:11 Explaining Sam Bankman Fried’s debut on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans
01:56 Sam Bankman Fried on his journey into crypto
03:00 What makes Sam Bankman Fried, well, Sam Bankman Fried?
03:41 Explaining effective altruism
05:33 When do philanthropists know when it’s time to give away their fortune?
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2021/10/06/the-richest-under-30-in-the-world-all-thanks-to-crypto/?sh=74746b403f4d
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Philanthropist with the money of others
😂😂😂😂😂 this video did not age well . He has given his own money and then the money of his customers 😂😂😂😂😂
Digital assets or just plain criminal behavior?
I'm surprised Forbes hasn't yanked this video.
This did not age well.
moral of the story, quick money becomes a quick money becomes a quick downfall, stick to the classic way make money by solving real problems and the market will reward you
Scam Skankman-Fraud
Crypto is based on nothing!
Forbes should be sued for promoting this thief.
I'm sure there are more scammers on the forbes list right now as we speak. It's become their franchise.
Perhaps the greatest “this aged well” video on the internet. SBF embodies the hypocrisy of leftist wokeism and it’s malignant narcissistic underbelly.
Sam’s focus was giving money away, or keeping it away from the customer.
Most people venture into crypto to be a millionaire meanwhile I just want to be debt free
This aged like fine milk!
Gave his CUSTOMERS" money to democrats and ukraine (NWO).
😂😂😂
Bankman story shows us never trust media Puff pieces… there is always more to the story…
Anyone who knows anything about crypto trading knows the dude story was fishy from day 1 when he said he made billions on "crypto arbitrage" so late in the game……
This aged well……
He certainly gave it all away
To the DNC
He's literally describing his scam in the interview and Forbes didn't see it.
Im sure his cellie is going to love that “big poofy hair”
He gave his "fortune" to the Dems.
What a narcissist narrative. Look how a great person I am while stealing money to investors. I never follow this type of people they are comunal narcissists , they hurt everyone around them. Don’t believe for a minute that he didn’t know what he was doing he is taking advantage that you are a empathetic person and you feel sorry for him. 60 years in prison at least and he can cry to the other inmates all he wants will see what happens to him.
this guy is going places
Thank you Forbes, for interviewing the scammer of the decade. Your credibility is shot.
Man this video is a fucking gem 🤣
this guy thinks Bill Gates is a good person LOL
He’s back at home in Mommies basement playing video games waiting to get his jail cell with wi-fi A/C 55” led TV and plenty money in his commissary account latest I phone. Plenty of prescriptions Meth for his inability to focus. This is what happens when you give them excuses and drugs as children for their short comings. Discipline and hard work use to overcome these deficiencies now drugs are used and society ends up with adults who were never told to focus and taught how to comb their hair. In the end you get this guy who wasted peoples hard earned money and is going to spend the prime time of his life in a federal prison.
This has aged beautifully