Sam Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, is an American entrepreneur and convicted felon. At the height of his success, thanks to his FTX exchange and Alameda Research trading firm, he was one of the richest people in the crypto space.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s net worth was more than $25 billion in January 2022, but his empire crashed in November 2022. In December of the same year, he was arrested in connection with the collapse of FTX and was found guilty. Sam Bankman-Fried’s net worth in 2025 is $0.
Quick facts about Sam Bankman-Fried
| Name | Sam Bankman-Fried (also called SBF) |
| Born on | March 6, 1992 |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Residence | Nassau, Bahamas |
| Education | Crystal Springs Uplands School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
| Companies founded | FTX and Alameda Research |
| Peak and current net worth | $26.5 billion/ $0 |
Sam Bankman-Fried net worth
SBF founded the FTX exchange in 2019, and it soon became one of the leading crypto exchanges serving users globally. He achieved billionaire status before turning 30, and in October 2021, he had a net worth of $26 billion.
FTX was valued at around $40 billion in early 2022, while SBF’s net worth around the same time was estimated to be $26.5 billion, making him the 41st richest American in the Forbes 400.
The majority of his wealth was tied to his ownership of FTX (about 50%) and FTT tokens. In May 2022, he even acquired a 7.6% stake in brokerage firm Robinhood.
Following FTX’s collapse in November 2022 over revelations of mismanagement, SBF’s net worth dropped to about $16 billion and then eventually to zero in just one week.
SBF filed for bankruptcy for FTX and Alameda Research after users rapidly began withdrawing their investments from FTX. In December 2022, he was arrested in relation to one of America’s most significant financial frauds and was subsequently found guilty of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
In March 2024, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was ordered to forfeit $11 billion. His stake in Robinhood was seized by the U.S. government.
Early life and education
Samuel Bankman-Fried was born on March 6, 1992, in Stanford, California, to two Stanford Law School professors – Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman. Sam has a brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, who is the founder of the Guarding Against Pandemics PAC.
SBF had a high-profile education and attended Crystal Springs Uplands School. He even attended Canada/USA Mathcamp, a summer program for mathematically talented high-school students. SBF earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and a minor in mathematics from MIT in 2014.
While at MIT, SBF was attracted to the concept of “effective altruism”, popularized by the utilitarian school of Peter Singer. The concept justifies the accumulation of massive wealth as long as it is used towards noble causes. At the time, he was determined to use his mathematical aptitude for philanthropic goals.
In 2013, he started his career by working as an intern at Jane Street Capital, and returned to the same company full-time after graduating from MIT. A few years later, SBF grew worried that he wasn’t taking enough risks.
So, in 2017, he quit his Wall Street job and co-founded Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm, with Tara MacAulay (also known as Tara Hedley). Two years later, he founded the FTX cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. He also briefly worked at the Centre for Effective Altruism.
Not much is known about his personal life. However, there are reports that he was briefly in a relationship with Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison until their split in April 2022.
Political donations and controversy
Following the success of Crypto.com, Bankman-Fried established himself as one of the largest political donors in America. SBF donated large sums of money to U.S. political campaigns and even faced accusations of violating campaign finance laws by illegally funneling money to candidates and political action groups.
Bankman-Fried donated millions of dollars to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. The billionaire was, in fact, the second-highest individual donor to Democratic campaigns that year, behind only George Soros, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
SBF reportedly donated over $70 million to election campaigns and political action committees, including fundraising committees and super PACs affiliated with both parties. A Democratic-aligned super PAC, Protect Our Future, was SBF’s biggest recipient of funds. The billionaire also donated to several causes, including projects focusing on future payouts for humanity.
Though the federal election receipts data show that the billionaire donated primarily to Democrats, Bankman-Fried claimed to donate an equal amount to Republicans and Democrats.
After allegations that Bankman-Fried stole customer funds, many lawmakers faced growing pressure to return the donation from Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives. Some lawmakers even returned SBF donations, while some donated the money to charity.
In addition to political donations, Bankman-Fried is known for his philanthropic efforts. He was affiliated with several organizations, including Giving What We Can. Moreover, FTX also used 1% of its revenue towards charitable initiatives.
FTX scandal
The FTX exchange was growing strongly, even when the crypto market crashed in mid-2022. The exchange not only remained profitable during the crash but also bailed out many other crypto firms that faced financial challenges during and after it.
However, bankman-Fried’s other firm, Alameda Research, faced liquidity issues due to the crash. Panic selling forced lenders to recall funds that Alameda Research had used for venture investment. At the time, FTX reportedly used its customer deposits to help Alameda Research.
A few months later, this secret arrangement between Alameda Research and FTX was uncovered, as shown by the following details from a leaked Alameda Research balance sheet. Such events shook investor confidence in FTX’s native token, FTT. The coin’s value collapsed further after the CEO of Binance, a competing exchange, announced the sale of its FTT holdings.
The announcement triggered panic selling, but FTX lacked enough funds to pay off everyone. Moreover, there were reports that at least $1 billion in customer funds was missing. In November 2022, FTX filed for bankruptcy, resulting in Bankman-Fried’s resignation.
A congressional hearing in December found a lack of transparency and accountability in FTX’s bookkeeping. Bankman-Fried was taken into custody in the same month, and his trial started in October 2023.
In November 2023, he was convicted on all charges, and in March 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. SBF was also ordered to surrender over $11 billion in assets.
Binance and FTX – Friend or foe?
Binance was an early investor in FTX. After FTX grew to the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange globally (behind only Binance), Binance’s founder Changpeng Zhao, commonly referred to as CZ, proposed that SBF buyback FTX’s shares for $2 billion.
SBF agreed and used FTX’s proprietary token, FTT, to fund the transaction. However, in November 2022, CZ raised concerns over FTX’s financial situation following the FTX and Alameda Research scandal. In a tweet, CZ also announced the liquidation of all his FTT holdings, raising public concerns regarding FTX’s liquidity.
Within hours of CZ’s tweet, FTT’s price dropped by 20% and eventually lost as much as 60%. A couple of days later, SBF announced that FTX had signed a letter of intent for acquisition by Binance. However, after reviewing the exchange’s financials, CZ walked away from the deal. The terms of the deal were never made public.
With no investors willing to save FTX, the exchange had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.
What happened to SBF’s Robinhood stake?
SBF owned a 7.6% stake in Robinhood, a stock trading platform, for a total of $648 million. However, the US government confiscated those Robinhood shares as part of charges against the FTX founder.
This triggered a legal battle with four entities claiming ownership of the seized shares – Robinhood, SBF, FTX, and a bankrupt crypto lender, which claimed that shares were pledged to it as collateral on a loan. On the other hand, SBF claimed that the investment in Robinhood was his personal investment and was not connected to FTX.
Eventually, Robinhood bought back the shares (55 million shares worth $605 million) from the US government.
