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Bankman-Fried is accused of illegally using FTX customer deposits to support his Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate and make millions of dollars in political contributions. He is scheduled to appear at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan to enter a plea. It is not unusual for criminal defendants to initially plead not guilty. Bankman-Fried has admitted to making mistakes running FTX but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. The prosecution case was strengthened by last month's guilty pleas of two of Bankman-Fried's closest associates.

☆ 'Healthy embarrassment' can help you reach your goals next year—here's how, from a Zen teacher
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

But when they sleep in instead of going to the gym, or impulsively purchase a pricey coat, they can feel defeated and disappointed. Instead of feeling paralyzed by shame, we should strive to experience a sort of "healthy embarrassment" Koshin Paley Ellison, a Zen teacher and the co-founder of New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, said on the podcast Ten Percent Happier this year. "It's really important to have a humble, healthy embarrassment to realizing how while most of us know what we value and care about, we very rarely actually are behaving in those ways," he says. Having healthy embarrassment can help us reach our goals in a way that shame can't. Shame feels 'so personal'Ellison had this revelation about embarrassment while practicing Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path.

☆ Elon Musk has worked and partied with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and Hollywood from Larry Ellison to Kanye West
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Kanye WestGeorge Lucas (right), Kanye West (center), and Elon Musk in 2015. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIMEKanye West, also known as Ye, and Musk have a complicated history. In 2015, Musk praised Ye, saying "he fought for his place in the cultural pantheon with a purpose." A few years later, Musk cited Ye as someone who inspires him, and in 2020, Musk expressed support for Ye when he announced his plans to run for US president. Musk later said in a Twitter Spaces meeting that he wanted to "punch" Ye after he tweeted the image of a swastika.

☆ AG charges former officer in Floyd protest beating
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Attorney General Keith Ellison charged a former Minneapolis police officer Wednesday with beating a man during protests over George Floyd’s death. Justin Stetson, 34, faces one felony count of third-degree assault in connection with the May 30, 2020, beating of Jaleel Stallings. According to the criminal complaint, Stetson was among a group of officers enforcing a city-wide curfew that night when his group spotted four people in a parking lot. The city of Minneapolis paid Stallings $1.5 million this past May to settle his federal lawsuit. He alleged Stetson and other officers violated his constitutional rights.

☆ Here are the most shocking details of how FTX misused funds and treated customer money as its own private ATM, according to CFTC findings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

FTX customer funds were comingled with Alameda since the beginning of the exchange's inception, according to a recent CFTC complaint. When Alameda's external loans were called in, FTX customer funds were used to cover the debts. The complaint also alleges Bankman-Fried, his parents, and some employees used customer funds for personal purchases and loans. Under the direction of Bankman-Fried, FTX customer funds were further used to cover the debt. It has also become clear that the flashy ad and sports campaigns were funded by customer deposits.

☆ Musk's yes-men: 5 experts break down why it's difficult to 'speak truth to power.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Like yesterday, we're continuing with some of the year's best stories from our VC and startups team. Why it's difficult to "speak truth to power." The top VC and startups stories of 2022:Union Square Ventures; 645 Ventures; Race Capital; Mindset Ventures; Marianne Ayala/Insider6. Former Amazon leaders have infiltrated the tech industry. After dominating the VC industry last year, crossover funds spent 2022 pulling back.

NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea next week to criminal charges he defrauded investors and looted billions of dollars in customer funds at his failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Kaplan was assigned to the case on Tuesday, after the original judge recused herself because her husband's law firm had advised FTX before its collapse. Before his Dec. 12 arrest, Bankman-Fried acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. Two of his associates, former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison and former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang, have pleaded guilty over their roles in FTX's collapse and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Its new chief executive, John Ray, told Congress on Dec. 13 that the exchange lost $8 billion of customer money while being run by "grossly inexperienced, non-sophisticated individuals."

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried will enter a plea next week in FTX case, court filings show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled to enter a plea on January 3. Two of his top lieutenants, including Caroline Ellison, already pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyFTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea at a court hearing next week, court filings show. A docket entry on Wednesday designated it as an arraignment hearing, meaning that Bankman-Fried is now scheduled to enter his plea. On Tuesday, the criminal cases of Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and Wang were assigned to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

☆ FTX customers filed a class-action lawsuit against the failed crypto exchange to get their lost money back
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX customers filed a class-action lawsuit against the firm to claim back their money on Tuesday. Four plaintiffs filed the class-action on behalf of millions of former FTX customers saying that the firm's digital assets belong to customers and that they deserve priority access to those funds, according to the lawsuit filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The class-action wants a declaration that FTX assets traceable to customers are not the company's property, and that Alameda assets traceable to customers should not be considered Alameda property. The lawsuit also named top FTX and Alameda Research executives including Zixiao Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison as defendants. Bankman-Fried was hit with eight criminal charges including fraud and money laundering in December after being arrested.

☆ The judge in the FTX fraud case stepped down because her husband works for a firm that advised Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange last year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ronnie Abrams, the US district judge in the FTX fraud case, stepped down and has been replaced. She said that her husband is a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, which last year advised FTX. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has taken over the FTX case. Ronnie Abrams, a judge at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, said in a filing on Friday that she was stepping down. On Tuesday, the case was reassigned to Lewis A. Kaplan, a senior judge at the court, legal filings show.

☆ Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the 6 other richest Americans have suffered a nearly $400 billion wealth wipeout this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The eight richest Americans have seen close to $400 billion erased from their fortunes this year. Elon Musk's net worth has shrunk by $140 billion, while Jeff Bezos' wealth has slid by $86 billion. Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' wealth has fallen by $86 billion, while Alphabet cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have seen their fortunes shrink by a combined $91 billion. The upshot is that the eight richest Americans have seen an estimated $386 billion erased from their combined fortunes. That figure rivals JPMorgan's market capitalization, and comfortably exceeds the market value of Tesla ($345 billion), Nvidia ($352 billion), and all but a handful of America's biggest companies.

☆ This little-known firm with a weird website was central to the misappropriation of FTX customers' money, regulators say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Gretchen Morgenson | Gretchen Morgenson Is The Senior Financial Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. A Former Stockbroker | She Won The Pulitzer Prize In For Her | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Still, North Dimension had a crucial role in the FTX mess, regulators now say. In fact, they contend, the little-known company was central to the furtive misappropriation of FTX customers’ funds. But North Dimension Inc. also appears to have been a fake online electronics retailer, an NBC News investigation found. The second North Dimension website is sparse, with just two pages superimposed on a photo of a mountain range. An analysis by DomainTools shows this North Dimension site was created on Oct. 3, 2022, and registered in Ontario, Canada.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried may have trouble getting a plea bargain as 'the buck presumably stopped with him,' former federal prosecutor says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A plea bargain may be out of reach for Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a former federal prosecutor. The buck presumably stopped with him. But it's unclear if Bankman-Fried can point the finger at others. He could still offer a quick guilty plea, similar to what Bernie Madoff did in 2009 after his Ponzi scheme was exposed. But Madoff got a substantial sentence anyway, McGinley noted, so "the options here are very limited" for Bankman-Fried.

☆ FTX customers sent money to a fake electronics retailer with a website full of misspelled words that was key to funding SBF's Alameda, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX had customers wire money to North Dimension, a mysterious company with a fake electronics retail website, NBC News reported. Money sent to North Dimension would end up funding Alameda Research's trading activity, the SEC alleged. The North Dimension website has been deactivated, but had misspelled words and claimed to sell laptops and phones. And according to NBC News, North Dimension operated a fake online electronics retail shop, which has now been disabled and archived. Some of the items listed on North Dimension showed "sale" prices that were retailing well above their normal price, per NBC News.

☆ Caroline Ellison said she grew up 'exposed to a lot of economics.' Here's everything we know about her MIT economist parents.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Caroline Ellison pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraudCaroline Ellison, the former CEO of the crypto trading firm Alameda Research, has become entwined in the criminal proceedings related to FTX's collapse. Ellison pleaded guilty to seven charges of wire and securities fraud earlier this month. The New York Times reported that she told a district judge she was "truly sorry" for what she did and that she "knew it was wrong." It also said that Ellison was aware that Bankman-Fried made "false and misleading" statements to FTX investors. Here's everything we know about her parents, who are both economists at MIT.

☆ Business partners turn on Sam Bankman-Fried
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Last week, as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was being extradited to the United States from the Bahamas, two of his former business partners pleaded guilty to multiple charges of fraud and conspiracy. “I am truly sorry for what I did,” Ellison told the court. She and Bankman-Fried were close business associates who briefly dated. Bankman-Fried, 30, appeared Thursday in a US courtroom in New York, where a federal judge released him on a $250 million bond. Following his court appearance, Bankman-Fried was spotted in a business class lounge at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

☆ Caroline Ellison told a judge she's 'truly sorry' for defrauding FTX customers – and 'knew that it was wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison told a judge she's "truly sorry" for her role in FTX's collapse, per New York Times. The former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto-trading firm Alameda Research told US District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan federal court "I am truly sorry for what I did. The court unsealed the transcript of her plea hearing on December 22. Ellison told the judge she went along with the decision of her ex-boyfriend Bankman-Fried and others to conceal the close relationship between FTX and Alameda, according to the transcript seen by The Times. She also said she agreed with the decision to divert billions in customer deposits at FTX to pay off loans of Alameda.

☆ FTX execs hid $8 billion in liabilities in a customer account that Bankman-Fried referred to as 'our Korean friend's account,' CFTC prosecutors allege
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alameda Research borrowed billions of dollars of customer funds from FTX exchange. The firm's liabilities were then masked under a pseudonym account on FTX. Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to numerous counts of fraud. The lawsuit also claimed that Bankman-Fried would later refer to that account as "our Korean friend's account" and/or "the weird Korean account." Wang pleaded guilty to four counts of similar charges.

☆ Caroline Ellison told a judge that FTX executives secretly borrowed billions from Alameda Research, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison told a judge that FTX execs secretly borrowed billions from Alameda Research. She said she and Sam Bankman-Fried concealed the credit line from FTX investors and customers. In November, Reuters reported that Bankman-Fried secretly moved $10 billion in FTX customer funds to Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried told Reuters the sum was not "secretly" transferred: "We had confusing internal labeling and misread it." FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 11 after it imploded, wiping out customer deposits worth billions.

☆ Everything we know about Nishad Singh, the 27-year-old former FTX exec who had an 8% stake in the crypto exchange
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nishad Singh was FTX's Director of Engineering and had a 7.8% stake in the crypto exchange. Singh received a $543 million loan from Alameda Research, per bankruptcy filings. Singh was FTX's director of engineering, and had a 7.8% stake in the company. Singh's nearly 8% stake, which also included FTX subsidiary FTX.US, was worth about $572 million in March of this year. A year after Singh became FTX's director of engineering, he became a steady donor for the Democratic Party.

Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang both pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors as part of their plea agreements. Roos said Bankman-Fried carried out a "fraud of epic proportions" that led to the loss of billions of dollars of customer and investor funds. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX but said he does not believe he has criminal liability. A flurry of customer withdrawals in early November amid concerns about commingling of FTX funds with Alameda prompted FTX to declare bankruptcy on Nov. 11. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the capital Nassau on Dec. 12 and arrived in the United States on Wednesday after consenting to extradition.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond package on Thursday while he awaits trial over the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, which a U.S. prosecutor called a "fraud of epic proportions." His defense lawyer, Mark Cohen, declined to comment after the hearing in Manhattan federal court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein set Bankman-Fried's next court date for Jan. 3, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who will handle the case. The bond is meant to ensure that if Bankman-Fried flees, the government could confiscate the family's assets - including their Palo Alto home - up to $250 million. Details of their cooperation were kept under wraps until Bankman-Fried left the Bahamas, according to court papers filed on Thursday.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX execs received billions in hidden loans, ex-Alameda CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives received billions of dollars in secret loans from the crypto mogul’s Alameda Research, the hedge fund’s former chief told a judge when she pleaded guilty to her role in the exchange’s collapse. Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang both pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors as part of their plea agreements. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX but said he does not believe he has criminal liability. A flurry of customer withdrawals in early November amid concerns about commingling of FTX funds with Alameda prompted FTX to declare bankruptcy on Nov. 11. Bankman-Fried was arrested in capital Nassau on Dec. 12 and arrived in the United States on Wednesday after consenting to extradition.

☆ Caroline Ellison Apologized for Misconduct in FTX Collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Corinne Ramey | James Fanelli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Caroline Ellison, a close associate of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried , apologized in court this week as she pleaded guilty to fraud and other offenses, telling a judge that she and others conspired to steal billions of dollars from customers of the doomed crypto exchange while misleading investors and lenders. “I am truly sorry for what I did,” Ms. Ellison, the former chief executive of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s crypto-trading firm, Alameda Research, said in a New York federal court, according to a transcript of the hearing made available Friday. “I knew that it was wrong.”

☆ Caroline Ellison Apologizes for Misconduct in FTX Collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Corinne Ramey | James Fanelli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Caroline Ellison , a close associate of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried , apologized in court this week as she pleaded guilty to fraud and other offenses, telling a judge that she and others conspired to steal billions of dollars from customers of the doomed crypto exchange while misleading investors and lenders. “I am truly sorry for what I did,” Ms. Ellison, the former chief executive of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s crypto-trading firm, Alameda Research, said in a New York federal court, according to a transcript of the hearing made available Friday. “I knew that it was wrong.”

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