The curly haired graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in just a few years turned his FTX platform into the world's second biggest crypto exchange, propelling him to become the tech world's latest out-of-the-blue billionaire.
The 31-year-old's empire began to crumble last November when revelations alleged that client money in the FTX platform was being funneled to prop up Alameda Research, the company's crypto-focused investment arm. Danielle Sassoon, an attorney for the prosecution, told a hearing that the number of victims of Sam Bankman-Fried's alleged actions could be "in excess of a million."Charged with fraud and criminal conspiracy, SBF, as Bankman-Fried is known, was extradited at the end of December from the Bahamas, where FTX was headquartered, and released on a $250 million bail upon his arrival in New York.
According to prosecutors, while holed up at his parent's home, Bankman-Fried passed on documents to the New York Times in an attempt to influence the testimony of Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and a former Alameda executive.