Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX is investigating whether it can recoup millions of dollars it paid to celebrity athletes and sports teams before filing for bankruptcy last November.
In a more than 180-page court document filed on Aug. 31, FTX’s financial advisers laid out a detailed list of high-profile people and businesses it paid in marketing campaigns to see if they complied with rules that allow bankrupt companies to reverse payments. rule.
The list includes former basketball pro Shaquille O’Neal’s $750,000, tennis pro Naomi Osaka’s $300,000, former baseball star David Ortiz’s $270,000 and American football quarterback Trevor · Lawrence’s $200,000.
Also included were nearly $420,000 in payments to the professional basketball team the Golden State Warriors and more than $250,000 in various payments to the Miami Heat.
However, the filing warns that the final amount FTX may recover from these efforts “could differ materially from the amounts reported.”
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Many of the celebrities named in FTX’s recent filings are facing class-action lawsuits from FTX users seeking damages.
O’Neal, Osaka and the Golden State Warriors were sued by FTX customer groups for allegedly promoting the exchange, which they claimed sold unregistered securities.
The exchange has launched a series of lawsuits in an attempt to recover funds, most recently on September 9 against cross-chain protocol LayerZero Labs to recover $21 million that FTX claims was illegally withdrawn before the exchange went bankrupt last November. . .
In July, the company sued co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried and other former executives in an attempt to recover more than $1 billion they allegedly misappropriated.
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