Meet Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-Year-Old Billionaire Once Richer Than Dangote, Now Officially Poor

Meet Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-Year-Old Billionaire Once Richer Than Dangote, Now Officially Poor

  • Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned as CEO of FTX as his crypto company declares bankruptcy
  • A few months ago, Bankman-Fried was one of the world's youngest billionaires and ranked among the top 100 richest men in the world
  • Bankman-Fried's wealth, in fact, was ranked richer than Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man

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Sam Bankman-Fried, one of the world's youngest billionaires, has gone from a net worth of $26 billion (N11.4 trillion) to nothing in eight months (November 11, 2022).

Bankman-Fried's massive losses has stunned the world and have been regarded as the worst destruction of wealth by one individual in history.

Bloomberg billionaire index had in March 2022 ranked Bankman-Fried five places above Aliko Dangote, while Forbes, in its list of crypto billionaires, described him as 'a crypto genius.

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Bankman-fried billions wipe out in hours
Bankman-fried is now poor despite having a networth of over $16 billion a week ago. Credit: @backman
Source: UGC

From billionaire to zero balance

Bankman-Fried is no longer a billionaire or a millionaire after his cryptocurrency platform, FTX filed for bankruptcy.

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His company's bankruptcy announcement comes after Bankman-Fried left his post as CEO, and he is currently worth zero and his name removed from both Forbes and Bloomberg rich list.

A few months ago, Bankman-Fried's fortune grew to more than $26 billion, and his company, FTX's worth up to $32 billion at the end of last year.

However, the last few weeks have seen the value of cryptocurrency plunge heavily by more than 20% whipping off billions from investors' accounts.

Bankman-Fried reacts

Bankman-Fried posted an update on his Twitter feed, which reads:

"This doesn't necessarily have to mean the end for the companies or their ability to provide value and funds to their customers chiefly, and can be consistent with other routes.

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"Ultimately I'm optimistic that Mr. Ray and others can help provide whatever is best.
"I'm really sorry, again, that we ended up here. Hopefully, things can find a way to recover. Hopefully, this can bring some amount of transparency, trust, and governance to them. Ultimately hopefully, it can be better for customers.
"I'm going to work on clarifying where things are in terms of user recovery ASAP.
"I'm piecing together all of the details, but I was shocked to see things unravel the way they did earlier this week.
"I will, soon write up a more complete post on the play-by-play, but I want to make sure that I get it right when I do."

"Crypto crash has cost us fortunes but we still have hope", Nigerian traders lament

In another report Legit.ng revealed that the premier cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has lost 52 percent of its value since the crypto crash began.

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Experts said the crash was partly due to the then rebounding US dollar and inflation, which caused a lot of traders to embark on massive sell-offs, prompting many exchanges to halt withdrawals.

Many traders in Nigeria are counting their losses as the crash continues unabated and the market value of Bitcoin crashing even faster.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Dave Ibemere avatar

Dave Ibemere (Senior Business Editor) Dave Ibemere is a senior business editor at Legit.ng. He is a financial journalist with over a decade of experience in print and online media. He also holds a Master's degree from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the African Academy for Open-Source Investigation (AAOSI), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and other media think tank groups. He previously worked with The Guardian, BusinessDay, and headed the business desk at Ripples Nigeria. Email: dave.ibemere@corp.legit.ng.