Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, co-founded FTX and Alameda Research. He was chief executive of FTX from 2019 until November 2022 and of Alameda from 2017 until 2021. Following the collapse of the businesses, a federal jury convicted him of seven fraud and conspiracy counts in November 2023. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024.
Education and trading career
Bankman-Fried studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2010 to 2014. He worked as a trader at Jane Street from June 2014 to September 2017 and briefly as director of development at the Centre for Effective Altruism in October and November 2017.
He established Alameda Research as a cryptocurrency trading firm in 2017 and co-founded the FTX exchange in 2019. FTX offered spot and derivatives markets and issued the FTT exchange token. Bankman-Fried stepped down as FTX chief executive on November 11, 2022, when the group entered bankruptcy proceedings.
Criminal case and appeals
The November 2023 jury verdict concerned fraud and conspiracy involving FTX customers, investors and Alameda lenders. On March 28, 2024, the federal court imposed a 25-year prison sentence, three years of supervised release and an approximately $11 billion forfeiture order, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment on June 12, 2026. Bankman-Fried subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case. As of November 13, 2026, the petition remained pending in docket 26-349; the government's response deadline had been extended to December 16, 2026. A pending petition is a request for review and does not reverse the conviction.
