FTX is trying to recover the millions of dollars paid to celebrity athletes and sports teams who endorsed the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange before its collapse. It is also reclaiming the investments it made in other companies, including crypto startups.
According to a court filing, the financial advisors of FTX have laid out a detailed list of names and businesses to assess the possibility of reversing the payments made to them under the collapsed exchange’s marketing efforts.
The list includes $750,000 payments made to former basketball professional Shaquille O’Neal, more than $300,000 and $270,000 to Tennis player Naomi Osaka and former baseball star David Ortiz, respectively, and a payment of over $200,000 to American football quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The list further added a payout of about $420,000 to the professional basketball team, the Golden State Warriors, and another over $250,000 paid to the Miami Heat.
Payments made by FTX, Source: Kroll
At its peak of marketing spending, FTX bought the naming rights of the Miami Heat arena, which shed the crypto exchange’s branding following its collapse. The exchange was also promoted by other high-profile names like Tom Brady, supermodel and his former wife Gesel Bundchen, comedian…
