New reporting from The New York Times has revealed that Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, kept private diaries before the collapse of Alameda Research and FTX, the crypto empire spearheaded by Sam Bankman-Fried. This revelation comes ahead of Bankman-Fried’s trial where Ellison is set to testify as a star witness.
As previously reported by the New York Times, Bankman-Fried is facing criminal charges, accused of misappropriating billions of dollars from customer accounts. The documents, discovered by lawyers involved in Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, could provide crucial insights into the dynamics of Bankman-Fried’s business operations and his relationship with Ellison.
Star witness
The discovery of these private documents could play a significant role in Bankman-Fried’s upcoming trial. As a close associate of Bankman-Fried and a central figure in his operations, Ellison’s personal and professional insights will likely be critical to her testimony.
The documents reveal that Ellison, a central figure in Bankman-Fried’s business empire, harbored self-doubt and felt overwhelmed by her role at Alameda Research. She expressed concerns over her suitability for the leadership position and also detailed the strain on her personal life resulting from a tumultuous relationship with Bankman-Fried.
Court documents also reveal a stark pay discrepancy between Ms. Ellison and her co-executives at FTX and Alameda Research. Despite her high-ranking position, she received noticeably lower compensation than her counterparts. Out of $3.2 billion allocated for payments and loans to the exchange’s founders and key personnel, Ms. Ellison’s share was only $6 million. This contrasts sharply with the $587 million that went to Nishad Singh, the Head of Engineering at FTX, and the $246 million received by Gary Wang, a company co-founder. The largest compensation package, a staggering $2.2 billion, went to Sam Bankman-Fried himself. It remains uncertain whether Ellison was aware of this stark wage gap at the time.
The severity of the charges against Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX have made headlines in the crypto world. The now-defunct FTX was once one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, and its fall has sparked widespread scrutiny and legal fallout. Ellison’s confessional writings, though not yet public, offer a unique inside perspective into the decline of this crypto giant.
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