He might have lost his company, his wealth and his credibility, but former FTX.com Chief Executive Officer Sam Bankman-Fried isn’t shying away from the spotlight.
(Bloomberg) — He might have lost his company, his wealth and his credibility, but former FTX.com Chief Executive Officer Sam Bankman-Fried isn’t shying away from the spotlight.
A series of cryptic tweets spelled out the words “What HAPPENED” over the last 24 hours on Bankman-Fried’s account. The first tweet, posted Monday, simply read “What.” That was followed by the word “happened” in capital letters, tweeted out one character at a time in a little over 24 hours.
He finished with the message: “NOT LEGAL ADVICE. NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE. THIS IS ALL AS I REMEMBER IT, BUT MY MEMORY MIGHT BE FAULTY IN PARTS.”
The bizarre sequence sparked hot debate — and not a little anger — on the platform as users tried to second guess what would come next.
In an interview with the New York Times shortly after the initial two posts were sent, Bankman-Fried said: “It’s going to be more than one word. I’m making it up as I go.” When the interviewer asked if he was “planning a series of cryptic tweets,” he replied, “Something like that.”
“No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative,” wrote one Twitter user named The Crypto Dog, referencing the Will Ferrell movie Blades of Glory. Another, Ari Paul, wrote: “This wasn’t a game for many people. Most of the industry may be ponzis, but not all. You’ve reduced trust in the industry and in the world.”
The mysterious thread comes days after Bankman-Fried’s estimated $16 billion fortune was obliterated in one of the greatest wealth wipeouts the world has ever seen. At his peak, the 30-year-old was worth $26 billion. The collapse of FTX is already drawing comparisons to Lehman Brothers, Enron and Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
Elsewhere on Twitter, the man who hastened the demise of Bankman-Fried — Binance Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao — has been using the platform to position himself as crypto’s new savior, as evidenced by a flurry of tweets in recent days.
As for Bankman-Fried, he’s just asked the burning question — now people are waiting for the answers.
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