Nightcaptains: We hope you're all staying safe and warm out there. The newsletter will be off on Monday for Christmas, back on Tuesday. In the meantime, the FTX drama continues, and the housing downturn apparently hasn't hit the North Pole. Let's get into it. By Allison Morrow |
|
|
The FTX/SBF fallout continues... The latest: Last night, as Sam Bankman-Fried flew to New York from the Bahamas, two senior executives associated with his failed crypto exchange FTX pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges, according to unsealed court records, my colleagues Kara Scannell and Matt Egan report. Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, who served as CEO of the hedge fund Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud for their roles in the scheme that led to the collapse of the crypto-trading platform. Both are cooperating with federal prosecutors. "Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness," said Ilan Graff, an attorney for Wang. Ellison's attorneys could not be immediately reached for comment. Who are they? - Wang, 29, cofounded FTX with Bankman-Fried in 2019 and worked with him at Alameda Research.
- He has agreed to plead guilty to four counts: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
- Ellison, 28, became CEO of Alameda in October 2021. And word has it that she and Bankman-Fried dated for a time. (I mean, you toss a bunch of 20-somethings into a luxury compound in the Bahamas, you can't expect things will stay chaste for long, right?)
- She is pleading guilty to seven counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. (In short, she is charged with the same crimes as Bankman-Fried, except for the campaign finance stuff.)
These two are being portrayed as SBF's key deputies. Between 2019 and 2022, at the direction of SBF, Ellison manipulated the price of FTT, FTX's security token, market regulators allege. The Securities and Exchange Commission said this manipulation was conducted by purchasing large quantities of FTT on the open market to prop up its price. "When FTT and the rest of the house of cards collapsed, Mr. Bankman-Fried, Ms. Ellison, and Mr. Wang left investors holding the bag," SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said. Wang created FTX's source code that allowed Alameda to divert FTX customer funds and Ellison used misappropriated funds for the hedge fund's trading activity, according to the SEC. That appears to be the so-called backdoor to the system that allowed Bankman-Fried to move funds without r "Ellison and Wang were active participants in the scheme to deceive FTX's investors and engaged in conduct that was critical to its success," the SEC said in a release. Read Kara and Matt's full story here. RELATED: Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond after appearing in a US court. |
|
|
Even fictional houses are out of reach now... Zillow said Santa Claus's 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom North Pole property is now worth $1,154,137 — up 12% over the past year. The home has soared 77% since Zillow first "listed" it six years ago, with its initial Zestimate coming in at just over $650,000. St. Nick's home, which Zillow says sits on 25 acres of property, was constructed in the 1800s and is "steeped in Old World charm but thanks to a recent renovation, offers modern-day amenities." It includes many features homebuyers love, including a floor-to-ceiling fireplace and a gourmet kitchen for baking. |
|
|
More than 1,800 flights were canceled Thursday across the United States. The weather is not on our side, friends. As of Thursday afternoon, 1,841 flights had been canceled nationwide. More than 900 US flights were canceled for Friday. The worst offenders: Chicago's O'Hare International, followed by Denver International and Chicago Midway. Cancellations at those airports could have a wider impact, since they are busy hubs where travelers often change planes in order to reach other destinations. Thursday is expected to be the busiest pre-Christmas day for travel. What's going on? Oh just a festive little "bomb cyclone." The National Weather Service says more than 100 million people are under winter alerts and wind chill alerts — that's roughly a third of the US. Since I'm typing this on Thursday afternoon, there's no sense in trying to offer you all a region-by-region breakdown of the weather. Use your weather app, people! I'll just take this moment to say: Look, we all want the holidays to go smoothly, and we hope you're able to get wherever you're going safely. But a lot of you may find your plans scuttled by the weather, and that sucks. There's little worse than spending Christmas alone in an airport in Scranton (a la Kevin's mom in Home Alone). So, if you're among the unfortunate souls who find themselves drinking margaritas in an airport Chili's on Christmas Eve... well, it could be worse. Order yourself another marg and some quesadillas and bring the party to wherever you're stranded. If the pandemic era has taught us anything, it's to roll with the punches. Cheers, friends. Happy holidays. |
|
|
|
Comments
Post a Comment