Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO and founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, ranted on “Good Morning America” when asked whether he knew funds were illegally transferred to his trading firm, Alameda Research.
During a two-hour sitdown interview that aired Thursday on “Good Morning America,” George Stephanopoulos asked Bankman-Fried the question several times. When asked to deflect the question, he repeatedly licked his lips, muttered under his breath and looked at the ceiling before saying, “I don’t know.”
Ultimately, Bankman-Fried replied that it was unaware that “there had been any improper use of client funds.”
On November 11, Bankman-Fried resigned from the company and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after Alameda’s disclosure of cryptocurrencies issued by FTT’s large store, FTX. The disgraced CEO is estimated to have seen his net worth drop from $20 billion to just $100,000 as he faces court hearings and possible jail time.
“If Alameda borrows money belonging to FTX depositors, isn’t that a glaring red line?” Stephanopoulos asked at one point, noting that it was expressly prohibited by FTX’s terms of service.
“I vaguely knew that this was how some of the stars were being sent in the first place,” Bankman-Fried deflected.
At various points in the interview, he expressed regret for not spending “any time or effort” on risk management for FTX.
“I should have been on top of this, and I feel really, really bad and sorry that I wasn’t, and a lot of people got hurt, and that’s on me,” he said.
“I guess I got a little cocky,” he said. “I mean, a little more.”
Watch the full interview on “Good Morning America” in the video above.
