Su Zhu, co-founder of the defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), recently reflected on his nearly three-month incarceration in a Singapore jail, describing it as a "once in a lifetime" and surprisingly pleasant experience. In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on January 22, Zhu shared clips from an unreleased podcast featuring 3AC co-founder Kyle Davies, social media manager "Lukas," and an unidentified guest. Zhu expressed his unexpected contentment with his time in prison, noting activities that he likened to ancient forms of entertainment and expressing a sense of connection with his ancestors.
Zhu elaborated on his experience, revealing that the lack of beds in Singaporean prisons led him to sleep on the floor, which he claimed alleviated spinal pressure and resulted in the "best sleep" of his life. His philosophical take on his prison stay drew mixed reactions from cryptocurrency users on X. Laurence Day, founder of Wildcat Protocol, humorously critiqued Zhu's perspective, suggesting that only a prison stint could provide Zhu with a semblance of real-life experiences, like a casual beach walk.
The backdrop to Zhu's arrest and subsequent jail time is the collapse of 3AC on June 16, 2022. The hedge fund's failure to meet a series of margin calls from lenders led to one of the largest trading losses in hedge fund history, costing investors over $3.5 billion. Following 3AC's implosion, Zhu and Davies vanished, prompting Teneo, responsible for liquidating the firm's assets, to resort to summoning them through messages on X due to uncertainty about their physical whereabouts.
Despite their legal troubles, Zhu and Davies have remained active in the digital world. They launched a new cryptocurrency exchange and bankruptcy claims platform named Open Exchange. However, their difficulties are far from resolved, as Teneo is aggressively pursuing the recovery of $1.3 billion directly from the founders, alleging that Zhu and Davies excessively leveraged investor funds following the hedge fund's bankruptcy.
In a separate but related development, the Reserve Bank of Singapore handed down a nine-year ban to Davies and Zhu in September 2023. This sanction was in response to 3AC's alleged violations of Singapore's securities laws, further complicating the founders' legal and financial challenges in the wake of their hedge fund's dramatic downfall.
