Michael Kives, the ex-aide to Hillary Clinton-turned-Hollywood super-agent, seemed unbothered by FTX’s $700 million lawsuit against his firm while hanging out in London with former President Bill Clinton.
In photos exclusively obtained by The Post, Kives was pictured Monday exchanging some laughs along with his former boss during a stroll through the capital’s streets.
The pair were dressed casually in jeans and lightweight jackets and trailed by a small entourage through the London walkabout — which took place on the eve of Clinton’s trip to Albania.
The previous president received a medal for his role in ending the Kosovo War within the late Nineties.
Clinton, 76, was overheard talking concerning the war in Iraq with Kives, who served as an aide to Bill Clinton and in addition Hillary Clinton during her stint as a US senator.
He later became a Hollywood agent with well-known clients including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Katy Perry.
Michael Kives, who served as an aide to each Bill and Hillary Clinton, walks with the previous president in London.BACKGRID
The Post reached out to Kives and Bill Clinton for comment.
The foremost Democratic donor is the co-founder and managing partner of investment firm K5 Global, which was sued last month by bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
The grievance said Kives’s firm received a whopping $700 million in misappropriated assets from FTX and its disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried in 2022, just months before his empire collapsed.
Kives’s firm is being sued by FTX for $700 million.BACKGRID
Bankman-Fried purportedly referred to Kives as “probably, essentially the most connected person I’ve ever met” and “a one-stop shop” for essential connections in politics and Hollywood.
The grievance alleged that Bankman-Fried lavished K5 Global and its co-founders, Kives and Bryan Baum, with money as a part of his bid to realize political influence and celebrity clout.
Bankman-Fried approved investments in deals that benefitted K5 Global using FTX customer funds, though they provided no profit to the platform or its customers, based on the grievance.
Sam Bankman-Fried described Kives as a “one-stop shop” for influence.BACKGRID
The lawsuit cited one instance during which a shell company controlled by Bankman-Fried purportedly used $214 million in FTX funds to accumulate a minority stake in 818 Tequila, a liquor brand owned by Kendall Jenner.
On the time, the tequila brand’s assets were price just $2.94 million, based on SEC filings.
When FTX was getting ready to collapse last November, Bankman-Fried reportedly sought help from K5 and its leaders in a failed effort to acquire last-minute rescue financing.
The Post reached out to Kives and Bill Clinton for comment.BACKGRID
FTX and various affiliates, including Bankman-Fried’s doomed cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research, were ultimately forced to declare bankruptcy.
In an announcement to The Post last month, a K5 spokesperson said the lawsuit was “without merit.”
“In mid-2022 an affiliate of Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda bought a 3rd of K5’s general partnership for money and stock, and ultimately made a $400 million investment in certain funds managed by K5.
Kives and Clinton were dressed casually through the walk.BACKGRID
K5 was under the impression — like many others — that SBF was completely legitimate they usually were getting into a good, long-term, and mutually useful business relationship,” the spokesperson said.
In December, The Post reported that Kives stood to lose lots of of hundreds of thousands of dollars because of K5 Global’s business dealings to Alameda Research prior to its collapse.
Bankman-Fried faces trial this fall on an array of federal charges for allegedly bilking FTX customers out of billions of dollars.
Michael Kives is co-founder of K5 Global.BACKGRID
He has pleaded not guilty.
With Post wires
