FTX Wants To Claw Back Multi-Million Dollar Celebrity Payments
Interesting details have come to light in the ongoing FTX bankruptcy case. New court filings point to the conclusion of marketing deals ahead of the exchange's collapse in November 2022.
The court filing lists payments to sports stars Shaquille O'Neal, Naomi Osaka, David Ortiz, Trevor Lawrence, as well as some organizations. Coachella received $1.98 million. About $4.9 million was transferred to MLB, another $12.2 million involved partnership agreements with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, and $3.4 million went to the Golden State Warriors NBA team. These payments represent prepayments related to advertising and sponsorship agreements.
FTX intends to recover that money, but the exact amount is not specified. The exchange previously tried to recover $700 million from K5 Global, a source that previously helped Bankman-Fried close deals with influential people. Now, FTX financial advisers are analyzing how much was paid to Shaquille O'Neal and Naomi Osaka to see if they can be cancelled.
The exchange has sued LayerZero, demanding the return of more than $21 million transferred before the bankruptcy. The exchange's venture capital arm, Alameda Ventures, paid more than $70 million to acquire a 4.92% stake in LayerZero in two transactions. Another $25 million was spent on 100 million STG tokens in a public auction.
When the exchange went bankrupt, LayerZero tried to get the stake back. The agreement involved several transactions, but the last one was never completed. FTX alleges in the lawsuit that LayerZero took advantage of Alameda Ventures' distress. Brian Pellegrino, co-founder and CEO of LayerZero, believes FTX's lawsuit is filled with unsubstantiated claims.
Regarding the FTX suit, the entire suit is filled with unsubstantiated claims. We have been in communication with the FTX liquidators for almost a year now and have time and time again attempted to proactively address the issue of ownership of the shares with them and have been…
— Bryan Pellegrino (@PrimordialAA) September 11, 2023
FTX has recently been taking active steps to recover user funds and restore its reputation. Earlier, the new management of the exchange talked about a relaunch, scheduled for 2024.
