⚖️ Investors sue Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen over FTX promotion
Who paid what is not in the record we read. Bundchen's representative declined to comment on the suit. ⏳
By MissFortune, money desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 2 min read
ON FILEPhoto: Congressman Charlie Crist · Public domainWhat we know
- Bloomberg Law reported on Dec. 5, 2022 that investors sued FTX and Gisele Bundchen, alleging she took part in a star-studded Ponzi scheme. A representative for Bundchen declined to comment.
- CNN Business, on Nov. 17, 2022, linked to a report headlined "FTX investor sues Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and others."
- The Wall Street Journal listed Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and Shaq among celebrities with ties to FTX on Nov. 10, 2022.
- Reuters reported that a US court ordered FTX to pay $12.7 billion to customers in a CFTC settlement, with $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement.
- The Guardian reported that Sam Bankman-Fried was jailed for 25 years and ordered to forfeit $11bn.
Investors sued FTX's celebrity faces after the exchange collapsed, and the paperwork on who paid is thin. Bloomberg Law reported on Dec. 5, 2022 that investors sued supermodel Gisele Bundchen alongside FTX. They alleged she endorsed the exchange as part of what they described as a kind of star-studded Ponzi scheme. A representative for Bundchen declined to comment on the lawsuit, Bloomberg Law said.
Tom Brady sits beside her in the record. CNN Business, in its Nov. 17, 2022 report on the FTX filing, linked to a story headlined "FTX investor sues Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and others." Bloomberg Law reported that Bundchen and Brady, her former husband, also held an equity stake in FTX as well as serving as ambassadors. The Wall Street Journal's list of FTX celebrity ties put Brady, Stephen Curry and Shaq in the same frame.
The endorsers, set against the record
| Name | Tie to FTX on record | Suit on record | Response or outcome in the documents read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gisele Bundchen | ESG adviser and ambassador, plus an equity stake, per Bloomberg Law | Investors sued her alongside FTX, alleging a star-studded Ponzi scheme, per Bloomberg Law | Her representative declined to comment; no settlement figure in the documents read |
| Tom Brady | Listed on FTX's website as a brand ambassador, per the Wall Street Journal; equity stake, per Bloomberg Law | CNN Business linked a report headlined "FTX investor sues Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and others" | No response from Brady appears in the documents read; no settlement figure |
| Shaquille O'Neal | Named in the Wall Street Journal's headline on celebrities with ties to FTX | No suit detail in the documents read | Not stated in the documents read |
| Sam Bankman-Fried | Founder and former chief executive of FTX | Charged by a federal grand jury in Manhattan in December 2022, per the Justice Department | Sentenced to 25 years and ordered to forfeit $11bn, per The Guardian; he has appealed, per Reuters |
Who actually ended up holding the bill
Not the endorsers, as far as the documents show. A US court ordered FTX itself to pay $12.7 billion to customers and fraud victims, which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission called its largest such recovery, The Guardian reported. Reuters said that figure splits into $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement.
By the numbers
- 6y 8mfrom first to latest entry on record
- 7receipts behind this story
On the exchange's own plan, the customers come out ahead of the celebrities' lawyers. Reuters reported on Oct. 7, 2024 that Judge John Dorsey approved FTX's wind-down plan. FTX estimated it would pay customers at least 118% of their November 2022 account value. About 98% of customers held $50,000 or less and were due repayment within 60 days of the plan's effective date.
"Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here."
John J. Ray III, FTX chief executive, sworn declaration filed in Delaware bankruptcy court, Nov. 17, 2022
That is the company the stars vouched for, in the words of the man hired to clean it up. Whether any endorser has settled, and for how much, is a ledger entry we cannot fill from these documents. Mr Scandal will not invent one.
Quick quiz · 3 questions
Earlier on file: Biggest sports punishments: Astros' $5M fine, two firings top · Sam Bankman-Fried: 25 years and an $11B forfeiture over FTX
The Tom Brady file
- Reported
Bloomberg Law reported Brady and Gisele Bundchen held an equity stake in FTX. This story
- Reported
Listed on FTX's website as a brand ambassador, per the Wall Street Journal. This story
- Reported
Brady announced he would no longer pursue his legal challenge to the suspension, per NFL.com. Biggest sports punishments: Astros' $5M fine, two firings top
- Ruled
Second Circuit reinstated Brady's four-game suspension; Brady has not admitted wrongdoing, per NFL.com. Biggest sports punishments: Astros' $5M fine, two firings top
On file: The Tom Brady file · The FTX file · The Sam Bankman-Fried file · The Shaquille O'Neal file
The Ledger
On the record
- Bloomberg Law reported investors sued FTX and Gisele Bundchen; her representative declined to comment.
- A US court ordered FTX to pay $12.7 billion to customers, and Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years.
Still rumour
- Any settlement by Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen or Shaquille O'Neal, and any amount, is not confirmed in the documents read.
- Whether Shaquille O'Neal was sued over FTX is not stated in the documents read.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissFortune
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