Sam Bankman-Fried wanted his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to sponsor a Taylor Swift tour in a more than $100 million deal, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Per the report, Bankman-Fried’s wildest dreams of working with Swift reached a blank space in the spring when talks between the two parties, who were said to be close to finalizing the deal, fizzled out.
The sponsorship deal reportedly included offering tickets with digital certificates known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from Swift.
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According to the Financial Times report, people with knowledge of the matter said this deal highlighted FTX’s “unorthodox internal decision-making and clashes between Bankman-Fried’s inner circle and more experienced executives brought in from outside.”
It is understood that Bankman-Fried favored the proposed sponsorship deal as “a fan of Tay-Tay” (Swift), while others at FTX believed Swift was too expensive and had questioned if celebrity deals were delivering value for money.
Before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware in November, FTX had splashed out other celebrity partnerships with big names, including footballer Tom Brady, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, tennis player Naomi Osaka, and basketball players Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry.
Now Bankman-Friend has more than champagne problems to deal with, with some considering him the anti-hero of the crypto sector in the wake of FTX’s collapse.
Contact the author at emily.jarvie@proactiveinvestors.com
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