Stanford University, based in California, has announced its intention to return all funds it received from the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The university had received a total of $5.5 million in gifts from FTX-related entities between November 2021 and May 2022. A spokesperson for the university confirmed in a September 19 email statement that discussions with attorneys representing the FTX debtors were underway to recover these gifts, and the funds would be refunded in full.
The statement clarified that gifts received from the FTX Foundation and FTX-related companies were primarily intended for pandemic-related prevention and research.
It's worth noting that Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, has parents named Alan Bankman and Barbara Fried, who are legal scholars and taught at Stanford Law School. This move by Stanford University to withdraw financial support from FTX coincides with accusations against SBF's parents, who are alleged to have misappropriated millions of dollars from the cryptocurrency exchange.
On September 18, FTX debtors filed a lawsuit against Alan Bankman and Barbara Fried, accusing them of enriching themselves through their involvement with the exchange. Bankman is portrayed as a de facto executive of FTX Group in the court documents. Furthermore, documents reveal that Bankman's expected annual salary is $1 million.
On September 19, lawyers for SBF argued for his early release from prison before a three-judge panel. This request was made in preparation for a trial scheduled to commence in October. During the hearing, a judge reportedly noted that SBF's legal team's arguments regarding his First Amendment rights were no longer valid due to his alleged attempts to intimidate a witness, Carolyn Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research.
