Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and his allies have been revealed to have donated $50 million during the 2022 election cycle to politically active groups that don’t disclose their donors, according to recently released documents. These donations were made to nonprofits aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other senior Republican senators, as well as a group tied to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other obscure organizations. The documents show the extent of Bankman-Fried’s support for so-called “dark money” organizations.
Further testimony from Nishad Singh, FTX’s former head of engineering, revealed that Bankman-Fried used a private signal chat called “Donation Processing” to request contributions to be made in Singh’s name. Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried, also encouraged donations to be made in Singh’s name.
Bankman-Fried is currently on trial for federal fraud charges and for allegedly using FTX customer funds to finance over $100 million in political giving during the 2022 midterms. If convicted, he could face a potential life sentence in prison. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In an interview last year, Bankman-Fried admitted to making “dark” contributions to Republican-leaning organizations, stating that he didn’t want the public to know about his support for such groups. Despite his secret donations, Bankman-Fried publicly aligned himself with the Democratic Party.
Apart from his “dark money” donations, Bankman-Fried also donated over $36 million to Democratic campaigns and groups that disclose their donors. He was known for his support of charities promoting effective altruism, which advocates for using money and resources to improve the world.
Prosecutors have recently filed evidence showing the organizations that received money from Bankman-Fried and his associates, as well as how FTX customer funds were used to make political donations. Bankman-Fried was identified as the lead “dark money” donor among former FTX executives and the company itself. Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX’s digital markets division, also made significant donations to Republican political action committees and affiliated “dark money” groups using funds from FTX’s affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research. Salame pleaded guilty to campaign finance and money-transmitting crimes last month.
Government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington estimated that Bankman-Fried’s “dark money” donations amounted to around $37 million. However, the list of donations made public this week shows that Bankman-Fried’s actual donations were closer to $47 million during the 2022 election cycle alone.
Bankman-Fried’s spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, while lawyers for Caroline Ellison and Ryan Salame did not provide a response.
The donations made Bankman-Fried and Salame were directed towards various political groups. Bankman-Fried donated $10 million to One Nation, a group linked to Mitch McConnell, in August 2022. Salame used funds from an Alameda Research account to donate $5.5 million to One Nation, as well as $2.8 million to the American Action Network and $3.2 million to the American Prosperity Alliance.
Bankman-Fried also made donations to organizations aligned with Chuck Schumer, such as Majority Forward, to which he donated $8.5 million, and Guarding Against Pandemics, for which he listed total donations of $17.5 million. FTX itself donated $1 million to the Senate Leadership Fund.
These revelations shed light on the extent of FTX’s financial support for obscure “dark money” groups and the involvement of Bankman-Fried and his associates in shaping political influence.