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☆ Caroline Ellison, who has pleaded guilty to fraud in the FTX collapse, left behind a trail of hot takes about crypto, race science, and polyamory. Here are some of the most striking quotes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | Yoonji Han | Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Caroline Ellison faces up to 110 years in prison after pleading guilty to seven charges, including fraud. Twitter and Tumblr accounts thought to be linked to Ellison contain musings about race science and gender roles. On December 18, Ellison struck a plea deal with prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, pleading guilty to seven charges including wire and securities fraud. According to Ellison's plea deal, she has agreed to provide prosecutors with evidence and "truthfully testify" about the FTX implosion during court trials. December 22, 2022: This story has been updated to reflect the details of Ellison's plea deal.

☆ Caroline Ellison, ex-Alameda CEO, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to charges and are cooperating with authorities, US attorneys say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud. Both have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said. FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is being transferred to the US from Bahamas. Ellison and Wang have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, Williams added in a statement. —US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 22, 2022The development came just as FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried is set to be extradited to the US on Wednesday night.

☆ The charges against Caroline Ellison, SBF, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang — in 60 seconds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Alameda's former CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX cofounder Gary Wang are in the SEC's crosshairs. US Attorney Damian Williams said on Wednesday that Ellison and FTX cofounder Gary Wang had pleaded guilty to various charges, including fraud, and are cooperating with the government. Still, Ellison and Wang perpetuated the alleged fraud of FTX's investors and customers, according to the SEC. That gave the firm broad access to FTX customer funds — and Ellison knowingly traded at Alameda using that money. The complaint largely painted Bankman-Fried as the one making allegedly fraudulent assurances to investors, but cast Ellison and Wang as loyal enablers.

☆ Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda, is facing up to 110 years in prison after pleading guilty to 7 charges including fraud in the FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, is facing up to 110 years in prison. Per her plea deal, Ellison has pleased guilty to seven charges, including wire, securities, and commodities fraud. According to the plea agreement, Ellison faces seven charges that collectively carry a maximum prison sentence of 110 years. As part of her plea deal, Ellison must cooperate fully with prosecutors, the FBI, and any other law enforcement agencies. Also working with Bankman-Fried and Ellison at Alameda Research was FTX cofounder Gary Wang.

☆ Caroline Ellison, Associate of FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Corinne Ramey | Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A plane carrying FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Bahamas as he is being extradited to the U.S.Two associates of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried have pleaded guilty for their roles in fraud that contributed to the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse and are cooperating with federal investigators. Caroline Ellison , the former chief executive of Alameda Research, a trading firm tied to FTX, and Gary Wang , FTX’s former chief technology officer, both pleaded guilty to criminal offenses similar to those Mr. Bankman-Fried was charged with last week.

☆ If TikTok gets banned in the US, Oracle could be the secret loser
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

TikTok's US user data is on Oracle servers, so a ban would hurt its fast-growing cloud business. Any federal TikTok ban would have far-reaching implications for the future of tech regulation, for America's relationship with China, and for the growing ecosystem of creators on the app. But the entity that might take the hardest impact from any TikTok ban is one you may not expect: Oracle, one of its biggest partners in the US. "It's been a coup for Oracle to get this, and if they lost it because of the TikTok ban, those are tough shoes to fill." The deal was a huge boon to Oracle's cloud business, and is likely one important reason the cloud infrastructure business is growing so quickly, analysts told Insider.

☆ Elon Musk has become a 'detriment' to the value of his companies, say 79 CEOs in new Yale School of Management poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

79% of CEOs surveyed at a Yale summit believe Elon Musk has become a detriment to the value of his companies. A new poll of CEOs by Yale School of Management showed that 79% of the 100 executives that were surveyed believe Musk has become a "detriment" to the value of his companies. A screenshot from Yale School of Management's 2022 survey of 100 CEOs, asking whether Elon Musk has become "a detriment" to the value of his companies. Yale School of ManagementThe survey was conducted at the invitation-only Yale CEO Summit held last week. Though, shares of the EV company appeared to respond positively to the possibility of Musk stepping down as CEO of Twitter on Monday.

CNN —Two senior executives associated with collapsed crypto exchange FTX have pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges and are cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to unsealed court records. Additionally, the pair face civil fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission that were announced Wednesday night. Wang cofounded FTX with Bankman-Fried in 2019 and also worked with him at his hedge fund Alameda Research. Ellison is pleading guilty to seven counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Wang has agreed to plead guilty to four counts: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried pictured arriving at courthouse in Bahamas, where his extradition to the US could be decided
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's still not certain if Sam Bankman-Fried will submit to an extradition to be brought to the US. He's facing serious wire fraud and conspiracy charges in New York federal court. Federal prosecutors in the US have hit Bankman-Fried with 8 counts, including for wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. "These contributions were disguised to look like they were coming from wealthy co-conspirators when, in fact, the contributions were funded by Alameda research with stolen customer money," Williams said at the conference. The brief indictment against Bankman-Fried targeted just him, and laid the foundation to extradite him from the Bahamas.

☆ Substack is having a moment, again. But can the startup live up to its massive $650 million valuation?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

He provided a place where readers could find him "in case the bird app spirals into oblivion": his Substack newsletter. The epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding began promoting his Substack newsletter to his 722,000 Twitter followers in early November. They have been a welcome addition, Substack writers say. Substack has also recently rolled out mentions and cross-reporting functions, where writers can mention other Substack writers and share existing posts with their audiences. The irony, of course, is that many Substack writers rely on their Twitter audiences to promote their posts.

The firm's "years-long" fraud didn't just extend to playing with customer money, according to the SEC. Unlike those other market makers or power users, Alameda had a set of powerful tools at its disposal. The kind of high-frequency trading that FTX users engaged in made that invaluable. Alameda secured its loans from Voyager and BlockFi with FTT tokens, which FTX minted itself. Major Alameda lenders, like Voyager, declared bankruptcy.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail, but legal watchers are wondering: Where's ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison isn't named in prosecutors' charges against Sam Bankman-FriedBut the SEC's civil suit references her statements on the relationship between FTX and Alameda. Conspiracy charges and civil claims against SBF show others in the crosshairs, legal experts said. But her rise as CEO at Alameda, Bankman-Fried's other crypto company separate from FTX, may certainly put her in investigators' sights. The SEC's complaint on Tuesday claimed that Bankman-Fried "remained the ultimate decision-maker" at Alameda, even after Ellison took over the reins. Since Bankman-Fried's crypto empire began unraveling in November however, Ellison has stayed away from the public eye.

☆ Caroline Ellison Was Alameda’s CEO, But Officials Say Sam Bankman-Fried Ran It
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Justin Baer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Sam Bankman-Fried told his side of the story of what happened to FTX, the crypto exchange that went bankrupt on his watch last month, he often pointed the finger elsewhere. His favorite target was Alameda Research, the trading firm where Caroline Ellison was chief executive. This week, the U.S. government pointed back at Mr. Bankman-Fried.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried denied he was part of a secret chat group called 'Wirefraud' alongside other top FTX executives
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried denied he was in a secret chat group called "Wirefraud" in a tweet on Monday. The former FTX CEO was arrested and charged with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy this week. Although the chat group was set up to keep communications hidden, the contents of it will become public throughout legal proceedings, AFR reported. FTX did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about the chat group, made outside of normal working hours. Hours after Bankman-Fried denied involvement in the chat group, he was arrested by Bahamian authorities.

☆ The SEC is bringing charges against Sam Bankman-Fried – here are the key takeaways from the filing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The SEC has filed charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. It alleges that he was "orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud" by misusing customer funds. It alleges that the FTX founder violated the Securities Act by misusing customer funds for his own benefit, and hiding debts from investors. It alleges Bankman-Fried "used Alameda as his personal piggy bank to buy luxury condominiums, support political campaigns, and make private investments, among other uses." Bankman-Fried misled investors by saying "assets are fine"On November 7 – just four days before FTX filed for bankruptcy – Bankman-Fried tweeted "FTX is fine.

☆ Alameda ex-CEO Caroline Ellison taps SEC's former top crypto regulator as lawyer in FTX investigation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison hired Stephanie Avakian and law firm WilmerHale to represent her in the FTX investigation, per Bloomberg. Sources close to the matter told Bloomberg that Avakian, as well as fellow WilmerHale lawyers, will represent Ellison. Avakian and WilmerHale will represent Ellison during the federal probe into her former company, Alameda Research, the trading firm and corporate sibling of fallen cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. Ellison has remained an elusive figure in the collapse of FTX, staying mum and largely unreachable during its downfall. As noted by Bloomberg, while Bankman-Fried has publicly placed blame on Alameda in numerous interviews, Ellison has stayed silent.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and chief executive officer of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to testify before the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing about the crypto exchange's collapse on Tuesday, he said in a series of tweets Friday morning. There's been a lot of back and forth in Washington over whether lawmakers would have to subpoena Bankman-Fried, who said he would voluntarily testify since the committee "still thinks it would be useful." In his tweet thread, the disgraced former "darling" of crypto appeared to lay blame on Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao. Before Bankman-Fried agreed to testify, CNBC reported that Waters was not planning to subpoena the ex-billionaire.

☆ Musk's bankers mull new Tesla margin loans to slash Twitter debt - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk's bankers are considering providing the Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer with new margin loans backed by the U.S. automaker's stock to replace some of the high interest debt on his Twitter deal, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The margin loans are one of the options that the Morgan Stanley (MS.N)-led bank group and Musk's advisers have discussed to ease the $13 billion debt Twitter took on as part of Musk's $44 billion deal, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Barclays Plc (BARC.L) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (8306.T) led the $13 billion financing for the bid by Musk. The banks are not expected to offload any of the Twitter debt to institutional investors until the new year, Bloomberg reported. Reuters reported in October that banks had abandoned plans to sell the debt to investors because of uncertainty around Twitter's fortunes and losses.

☆ Watch CNBC's full interview with Barclays' Jason Goldberg and Hennessy Funds' David Ellison
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWatch CNBC's full interview with Barclays' Jason Goldberg and Hennessy Funds' David EllisonBarclays Senior Analyst Jason Goldberg and Hennessy Funds Portfolio Manager David Ellison join 'Closing Bell' to discuss back stocks sliding downward, net interest income exposure and fears associated with rising credit loss.

☆ FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried is 'one of the greatest fraudsters in history' and a 'master manipulator,' Binance CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Binance's CEO says FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is "one of the greatest fraudsters in history." "FTX killed themselves (and their users) because they stole billions of dollars of user funds," the CEO said. Bankman-Fried chalks up FTX's collapse to accounting errors and denied allegations of the misuse of customer funds. "SBF is one of the greatest fraudsters in history, he is also a master manipulator when it comes to media and key opinion leaders." Bankman-Fried chalks up FTX's collapse to accounting errors and maintains he never intentionally misused funds or defrauded anyone.

Three people close to FTX and Bankman-Fried told CNBC that the former CEO lobbied aggressively for a partnership with 11-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift. Bankman-Fried's commitment to getting the Swift deal done despite the deteriorating business environment fit a pattern of ignoring his lieutenants and going it alone, a half-dozen former company insiders and business partners said. The Financial Times reported earlier that FTX held talks with Swift about a potential sponsorship. Part of the Swift deal would have included the production by the singer of a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or digital items that can rise and fall in value. Beyond that, there was a lack of clarity over what Swift would be doing for the company, sources said.

☆ Banks are entering a period of uncertainty, says Barclays' Jason Goldberg
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBanks are entering a period of uncertainty, says Barclays' Jason GoldbergBarclays Senior Analyst Jason Goldberg, and Hennessy Funds Portfolio Manager David Ellison join 'Closing Bell' to discuss back stocks sliding downward, net intrest income exposure, and fears associated with rising credit loss.

[1/2] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. Ellison, who ran trading firm Alameda Research, has hired Washington-based law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to represent her, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Semafor previously reported Mills' advisory work for Bankman-Fried. FTX secretly transferred customer funds to its affiliate Alameda Research to fill a shortfall at the crypto trading firm, Reuters has previously reported. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that Ellison and senior FTX officials knew the crypto exchange had dipped into its customer funds to help Alameda meet liabilities.

Bankman-Fried could face a host of potential charges – civil and criminal – as well as private lawsuits from millions of FTX creditors, legal experts told CNBC. There are three different, possibly simultaneous legal threats that Bankman-Fried faces in the United States alone, Levin told CNBC. He told CNBC, "prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bankman-Fried or his associates committed criminal fraud." (Carter was not an FTX investor, and told CNBC that his fund passed on early FTX rounds.) "People should not jump to the conclusion that something is not happening just because it has not been publicly disclosed," Levin told CNBC.

☆ Anna Sorokin says Sam Bankman-Fried's media apology tour is a scam: 'He's just trying to save himself'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Sam Bankman-Fried has been on a media apology tour following the collapse of his crypto firm. Convicted scammer Anna Sorokin (AKA Anna Delvey) thinks "he's just trying to save himself." 'He's just looking for pity'Through his media interviews, Bankman-Fried is trying to cultivate a more innocent image in the public eye, Sorokin speculated. Sorokin acknowledged that Bankman-Fried's narrative that he was blindsided, rather than willfully preying on FTX's customers, may be legitimate. "I don't know which one is worse — that he actually was not in control, or if he's trying to cover it up now.

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