Kevin O’Leary Reveals FTX Paid Him $15 Million to Become a Spokesperson for the Exchange – Featured Bitcoin News

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Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful has revealed that collapsed crypto exchange FTX paid him around $15 million to become its spokesperson. “I invested about $9.7 million in crypto. I think that’s what I lost. I do not know. It’s all zero,” O’Leary said.

Kevin O’Leary was paid $15 million by FTX

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary revealed in a CNBC interview on Thursday that collapsed crypto exchange FTX paid him around $15 million last year to become its spokesperson.

Noting that he had fallen prey to “groupthink”, O’Leary detailed:

The total transaction was just under $15 million, in total I invested around $9.7 million in crypto. I think that’s what I lost. I do not know. Everything is zero.

The Shark Tank star further revealed that he also has over $1 million in FTX equity, which is now rendered worthless due to the bankruptcy protection process. Additionally, Mr. Wonderful explained that the balance of just over $4 million would have been eaten up by taxation and agent fees. He admitted:

It was not a good investment.

FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11 and Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) stepped down as CEO. The company is currently under investigation for mishandling customer funds. New FTX CEO John Ray told the bankruptcy court: “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of reliable financial information as has happened. is produced here.”

Despite saying he lost millions of dollars in the FTX collapse, O’Leary insisted that Bankman-Fried is one of the top traders in the crypto space and would back him on again if he had another business. This shocked the crypto industry since most people think Bankman-Fried is a fraudster and a scammer. Some have compared FTX’s collapse to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Bankman-Fried insisted he did not knowingly commit fraud. Like O’Leary, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman also said he believed SBF was telling the truth. Mr. Wonderful also revealed recently that he nearly got $8 billion to save FTX before it collapsed and had to file for bankruptcy.

What do you think about Kevin O’Leary being paid $15 million to become the spokesperson for FTX? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

An economics student from Austria, Kevin discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests include Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects, and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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