Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen said her financial advisor prompted her to invest in now-bankrupt exchange FTX, describing it as "a nice golden" opportunity. She and her ex-husband, NFL legend Tom Brady, are among the many who have forfeited significant amounts of money over their involvement with the former cryptocurrency giant. The mass collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November left multiple investors empty-handed, some of whom included high-profile athletes, TV personalities and various celebrities. One of the highest paid models in the world - Gisele Bündchen - is also on the list.
In a recent interview, she blamed her financial advisor for making her a victim of the accident. The Brazilian further stated that she believed the hype surrounding the platform's former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), but initially, she was "caught off guard" by the failure.
It wasn’t long before Bündchen realized the true damage and scope of the FTX debacle, and wanted those responsible to be brought to justice: "It's just...horrible. I feel sorry for all of us that this happened and I just pray that justice will be done."
The model owns over 680,000 shares of FTX common stock. Her ex-husband, Tom Brady, is even more exposed, with more than 1.1 million shares. Other high-profile people burned by the disaster include Canadian entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary, better known as Mister Fantastic, and American billionaire Robert Kraft.
Well-known companies such as Amazon, Google, Netflix, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, etc. are also part of the nearly 10 million creditors. While the last year has been littered with scandals and company closures, one fallout stands out most — FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that was once an industry leader.
It all started in early November, when the media suggested that the platform's sister company, Alameda Research, could be seriously cracked. The latter is heavily invested in FTT, FTX’s native token, the report said.
Days later, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, vowed to liquidate all of its remaining FTT holdings, sending the token’s price plummeting.
Despite the growing uncertainty surrounding FTX, SBF assured that the company's condition is stable and its assets are "good." However, it seemed that all was not as the CEO described, and the company stopped accepting withdrawal requests.
Binance intended to acquire the struggling exchange, but withdrew plans after conducting proper due diligence.
SBF apologized for making certain mistakes, including failing to properly calculate FTX’s liquidity, which according to him led to the company’s downfall. He resigned as CEO on Nov. 11 while his company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The crash, seen by many as a poster child for fraud, set off a domino effect of billions of dollars in investor losses, market declines and other adverse events in the industry. SBF was arrested and held in a Bahamian prison for several days before authorities extradited him to the United States.
A U.S. magistrate judge allowed him to remain at his parents' house on a bond of up to $250 million. His trial, scheduled for Oct. 2, will determine whether he played a role in the death and rule out his final sentence.
