Sam Bankman-Fried wants to pass for a tragic hero.
A few days ago, the founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX launched a media blitzkrieg, meant to give his version that his empire’s downfall boils down to bad luck.
The former trader has given successive interviews to several news outlets, including the New York Times/Deal Book, ABC, the Financial Times among others. Each time, he said he didn’t know things were so terrible and that he didn’t run Alameda Research, the hedge fund and trading platform he had founded, even though court documents show that there were close ties between FTX and Alameda.
“I made a lot of mistakes,” he said during his interview with the New York Times/DealBook. “There are things I would give anything to be able to do over again. I didn’t ever try to commit fraud on anyone.”
Bankman-Fried’s media offensive is all the more surprising, as regulator investigations are ongoing. It is unclear right now whether they will result in charges or not. That’s why Ira Sorkin, the lawyer for legendary con artist Bernie Madoff, just gave Bankman-Fried some advice.
‘You’re Not Going to Sway the Public’
“That’s the first order of business: don’t talk,” Ira Sorkin said to Bloomberg News in an interview about Bankman-Fried. “You’re not going to sway the public. The only people that are going to listen to what you have to say are regulators and prosecutors.”
“Sometimes clients believe they are smarter than their lawyers. This guy is 30 years old, and he is…
