NFL legend Tom Brady and ex-wife Gisele Bündchen were amongst FTX’s largest individual equity holders before the doomed crypto site’s collapse into chapter 11, court filings revealed Tuesday.
FTX shares held by Brady, Bündchen and other celebrity backers are actually essentially worthless as officials scramble to salvage remaining assets and try and make jilted customers financially whole.
Brady, 45, owns greater than 1.1 million common shares of FTX, in response to a listing of equity holders released in bankruptcy court. Bündchen has greater than 686,000 common shares. The pair finalized their divorce last yr.
FTX is a privately held firm and the precise value of the equity stakes held by Brady, Bündchen and other investors couldn’t immediately be determined, but their value was likely substantial. FTX drew a whopping $32 billion valuation in January 2021, just months before its downfall.
In November, Forbes estimated that, on paper, Brady’s stake was price roughly $45 million and Bündchen’s stake was price about $25 million. The outlet based its assertions on documents that Bankman-Fried once provided to Forbes.
Other notable entities listed amongst FTX’s equity holders included KPC Enterprise Capital, a firm tied to Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s Latest England Patriots.
KPC Enterprise Capital owns greater than 110,000 Series B preferred shares in FTX’s fundamental platform, in addition to 479,000 common shares and 43,545 Series A preferred shares in West Realm Shires, the entity that controls FTX’s US-based operation.
Like all individuals and entities caught up in FTX’s collapse, shareholders face an uphill battle to get well their losses. Under US bankruptcy law, customers, suppliers and other creditors are entitled to proceeds before shareholders.
Additional FTX stakeholders include NBA player Udonis Haslem, the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund and Wall Street firms comparable to Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and Thoma Bravo.
Brady and Bündchen played a key role as FTX brand ambassadors, at one point appearing in a industrial during which they urged a series of on a regular basis people comparable to plumbers and doctors to take a position in crypto. The previous couple received equity stakes in exchange for his or her promotional efforts.
Last yr, Bündchen appeared alongside disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on the Salt Crypto Bahamas Conference, where they shared the stage to debate sustainability efforts within the cryptocurrency industry.
Brady and Bündchen topped a listing of high-profile FTX backers who were named as defendants in a category motion lawsuit on behalf of consumers who lost money within the bankruptcy.
In the times after FTX’s bankruptcy, Brady quietly scrubbed tweets during which he promoted the corporate.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight federal charges. The feds have accused him of overseeing an enormous fraud and bilking customers out of billions of dollars.