According to the Financial Times, advisors working with Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen didn’t identify any financial issues with FTX before the celebrity pair invested heavily in the now-bankrupt crypto exchange.
Brady and Bündchen acquired 1.8 million shares, amounting to over $84 million in Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto venture, after their team found no discrepancies in the financial records, a report on Tuesday stated.
Members of Brady and Bündchen’s team diligently reviewed the documentation and believed it portrayed sound financials, as per an unnamed former FTX employee mentioned in the FT report.
“There was a strong desire for shares. Despite some fear of missing out, everyone consistently reviewed the financials,” the source remarked.
FTX’s bankruptcy filing in November followed reports from CoinDesk, revealing that Alameda Research, its sister trading firm, heavily invested in FTX’s native FTT token. This prompted a solvency crisis when Binance, a rival firm, sold off its FTT holdings, eventually forcing FTX into bankruptcy.
In the subsequent month, founder Bankman-Fried faced arrest in the Bahamas and extradition to the US. Prosecutors alleged that he knowingly utilized at least $4 billion from FTX customers to bolster Alameda’s financial status.
Investors in FTX, including NFL star Brady and supermodel Bündchen, lost their entire investments due to the bankruptcy, causing significant potential losses for both personalities.
Despite their divorce in October following a 13-year marriage, both Brady and Bündchen had endorsed the crypto group.
Brady individually owned 1.1 million shares and served as a prominent brand ambassador, featuring in three FTX commercials.
Bündchen held an additional 700,000 shares, appeared in one of the advertisements, and highlighted the exchange in a Vogue issue in April 2022, discussing topics like “Crypto, Collaboration, And Helping FTX Donate Billions”.
The actual extent of their losses remains undisclosed since FTX operated as a private company. However, Forbes previously estimated Brady’s stake to be worth up to $45 million.