SBF forfeits $1B in assets as jets and donations are seized

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX (CRYPTO:FTT), has been ordered to forfeit approximately $1 billion in assets, including private jets and political donations, according to court documents.

The "Final Order of Forfeiture as to Specific Property," issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 18, 2025, details the assets accumulated by Bankman-Fried.

The largest single asset is 55.2 million shares of Robinhood, which the U.S. Department of Justice seized on January 9, 2023.

Robinhood repurchased these shares in September for $605.7 million.

The forfeited assets include two aircraft: a Bombardier Global 5000 and an Embraer Legacy.

Assets owned by Alameda Research, a trading firm co-founded by Bankman-Fried, were also seized.

The order incorporates various crypto holdings belonging to Alameda Research, including $56 million in Ripple (CRYPTO:XRP), $3.6 million in Tron (CRYPTO:TRX), $3.4 million in Cardano (CRYPTO:ADA), and $2.3 million in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC).

The forfeiture also included financial assets, such as $119 million in Tether (CRYPTO:USDT) held at Binance for Alameda Research, $21 million at Marex for Emergent Fidelity Technologies, $50 million at Moonstone Bank for FTX Digital Markets, $101 million at Silvergate for FTX Digital Markets, and $7 million at Flagstar Bank for Bankman-Fried and another individual.

More than 250 political donations made by Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives have been retracted.

These donations were distributed across political campaigns and state organisations, with a notable portion of Congress members having received contributions.

On February 18, 2025, FTX began repayments for creditors with claims up to $50,000, disbursing a total of $1.2 billion, which represents approximately 119% of the original value of their accounts prior to the exchange's collapse in 2022.

Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty on eight criminal charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison, has appealed the verdict, alleging that the jury was "only allowed to see half the picture" and that prosecutors "presented a false narrative."