Kevin O’Leary, a businessman, “Shark Tank” judge, and contributor to CNBC, claimed on Thursday that he has lost the entire $15 million that FTX paid him to serve as a spokesperson for the now-defunct cryptocurrency.
Investors in FTX who believe the exchange’s ambassadors should have exercised more caution and due diligence before endorsing the crypto empire sued O’Leary and other celebrities, including Tom Brady and Larry David.
CNBC roasted Kevin O’Leary for not exercising caution with FTX
The hosts of CNBC’s “Squawk Box” interrogated the Canadian investor about his failure to accurately assess the risks involved in investing in and promoting FTX. O’Leary claimed that he was a victim of “groupthink” and that none of his business partners had suffered financial losses.
“Total deal was just under $15 million, all in,” O’Leary said. “I put about $9.7 million into crypto. I think that’s what I lost. I don’t know. It’s all at zero.”
Additionally, he claimed that the bankruptcy protection process had rendered his more than $1 million in FTX equity worthless. According to Kevin O’Leary, taxes and agent fees reportedly consumed the remaining balance of just over $4 million.
Kevin O’Leary aggressively promoted FTX online and on Twitter by highlighting his close relationship with the company’s disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is the subject of numerous investigations.
O’Leary claimed that FTX’s compliance systems were what inspired him to invest in the cryptocurrency exchange when he first started to promote the exchange.
John Ray III, the new CEO of FTX, would later refer to FTX’s risk, audit, and compliance procedures as “a complete failure of corporate controls” in his Delaware bankruptcy protection filings.
On November 11, FTX declared bankruptcy, and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) left his position as CEO. The business is currently under inquiry for improper handling of customer money.
“Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here,” FTX’s new CEO John Ray told the bankruptcy court.
According to Bankman-Fried, he did not intentionally commit fraud. Bill Ackman, a multibillionaire hedge fund manager, expressed a similar belief that SBF was telling the truth to O’Leary.