Kevin O’Leary, host of the television show Shark Tank, has defended his position as a paid ambassador for the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, despite his previous criticisms of bitcoin.
O’Leary appeared on CNBC on Friday, when he was asked difficult questions regarding his $15 million contract to serve as an ambassador for the company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested this week on financial crimes charges.
When asked why he had not condemned Bankman-alleged Fried’s wrongdoing more aggressively, O’Leary answered, ‘This is America. The legal system affords the assumption of innocent until proven guilty.
“I lack the facts,” he continued.
‘Many allegations of wrongdoing have been made in this case, and it’s likely that the majority of them are true.’
Andrew Ross Sorkin, a CNBC anchor, referred to a 2019 televised interview in which O’Leary referred to Bitcoin as “trash” and questioned whether the large payout from FTX changed his mind.
O’Leary appeared on CNBC on Friday, when he was grilled about his $15 million contract to serve as an ambassador for the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded and led FTX, is escorted out of the Nassau, Bahamas Magistrate Court building on Tuesday following his detention.
O’Leary argued, though, that as he learned more about cryptocurrencies, his perspective shifted and became more optimistic.
It was a long time before I became a paid spokesperson. Long ago,’ he stated of his crypto positive tilt.
O’Leary previously disclosed that he put the entirety of the revenues from his FTX sponsorship arrangement in business stock and deposits in FTX accounts, both of which are now worthless.
However, he stated on Friday that he would like to see small clients recover their deposits in bankruptcy court prior to addressing his losses.
The stockholders, of which I am one, should receive nothing, in my opinion. We’re venture capitalists, we’re men, we lost money, and we get it,’ he said.
“I’m not interested in anything until the folks who had money in their accounts receive it back.”
“The stockholders, of which I am one, should not receive anything, in my opinion. We’re venture capitalists, we’re men, we lost money, and we get it “says @kevinolearytv. “I do not want anything returned until the individuals who had money in their accounts receive it.” pic.twitter.com/B5HIcsEHtp
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) on the 16th of December, 2022
Kevin O’Leary, a Shark Tank investor, received $15 million to become an ambassador for FTX, but now confesses he’s lost all the money and institutional investors like him are ‘idiots’
O’Leary disclosed last week that he lost all $15 million he was paid by FTX following the collapse of the cryptocurrency company.
In August of 2021, when O’Leary agreed to become an ambassador for the company, he signed a contract for a massive sum.
After transaction costs, he was left with around $9.7 million worth of cryptocurrency in his FTX account and $1 million in business shares.
All of this is now worthless as a result of FTX’s bankruptcy filing last month and Bankman-removal Fried’s as CEO amid a series of criminal investigations into the company.
O’Leary stated on CNBC that he was a victim of ‘groupthink’ and that the company’s institutional investors now appear ‘like idiots’.
Along with Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Shaquille O’Neal, Steph Curry, and Larry David, he was recently mentioned in a lawsuit brought against FTX and its celebrity backers.
Thursday, O’Leary stated, “[The] whole agreement was little around $15 million, including a number of agents I had to pay.”
Last year, Tom Brady and his now-ex-wife Gisele Bundchen starred in an FTX advertisement. They are listed in a class-action complaint alleging that the firm’s demise cost consumers $11 billion.
He continued, ‘I invested approximately $9.7 million in crypto, and I believe that’s all I’ve lost; it’s all at zero. My entire account was scraped a couple of weeks ago, including all info, coins, and other assets.
Then I also lost the money I had placed in the equity. These are also zeros. It was not a wise financial decision.
He stated, “I am familiar with all of the institutional investors involved in this transaction.” Let’s get this out in the open: we all look like idiots.
“Not a single dollar that I have lost is anyone else’s but mine.” This is significant to me because it is an issue,’ O’Leary stated.
Previously, he had promoted FTX’s “compliance” solutions. Since the company’s demise, investigators are examining if serious compliance concerns led to the scandal.
Federal prosecutors are examining whether FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried manipulated the markets for two cryptocurrencies, resulting in their collapse and the collapse of his exchange.
The New York Times stated that authorities are investigating whether he manipulated the prices of two interrelated currencies in May, TerraUsd and Luna, to benefit firms he controlled, including FTX and Alameda Research.
After filing for bankruptcy last month, the disgraced prodigy faces a multitude of additional inquiries.
Global regulators, including those in the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered, and the United States, are probing the involvement of FTX’s top executives, including Bankman-Fried, in the firm’s spectacular collapse.
O’Leary is one of several A-list celebrities who publicly supported the discredited cryptocurrency trading platform FTX.
They are currently being sued in a $11 billion class action lawsuit
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