--- title: "Crypto Billionaire Loses 94 Percent of His Wealth in One Day" description: "FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who led one of the biggest exchanges in the world, has lost a stunning 94 percent of his entire net worth in a single day." date: "2022-11-09" modified: "2022-11-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/crypto-billionaire-94-percent-wealth" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "binance" - "cryptocurrencies" - "the digest" --- # Crypto Billionaire Loses 94 Percent of His Wealth in One Day ![FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who led one of the biggest exchanges in the world, has lost a stunning 94 percent of his entire net worth in a single day.]() *\Image: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images\* ## Billionaire Wipe Out FTX CEO and name-brand crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried has lost a stunning 94 percent of his net worth in a single day, [*Bloomberg* reports]() — a decline so precipitous that he's barely hanging onto the "billionaire" title at all. In total, Bankman-Fried's net worth dropped from $15.6 billion to around just $1 billion. It's a stunning wipeout, representing the biggest wealth collapse ever identified by *Bloomberg*. It's even *more* striking given what had been Bankman-Fried's growing reputation as an "adult in the room" for the chaotic world of blockchain. He'd [established a pattern]() of bailing out smaller firms in trouble, and expressed interest in working with the government to better regulate the web3 industry. But, in a perfect example of the generalized bedlam that characterizes the industry, his fall from grace took a single day. ## One Dollar Bankman-Fried was worth $16 billion just last week, but since rival exchange [Binance announced]() it was offering to buy FTX, his wealth has vanished. He held a $6.2 billion stake in FTX, while a separate $7.4 billion slice of his net worth was tied up in a different crypto trading house called Alameda Research. But now that Binance has agreed to acquire FTX, the value of both FTX and Alameda have plummeted, bringing the house of cards crashing down. ## Crypto Robin Hood At one point, Bankman-Fried's net worth was $26 billion. At the time, he was promising to donate much of it to charity and political causes, with *Bloomberg* [describing him]() as a "kind of crypto Robin Hood, beating the rich at their own game to win money for capitalism’s losers" back in April. But he [later backtracked](), calling his promise a "dumb quote." He can be a spendthrift though, like when he bought a [Super Bowl ad featuring Larry David]() and the naming rights to the Miami Heat's arena. Today, though, those splashy purchases sound like a distant dream. **READ MORE:** [Sam Bankman-Fried’s $16 Billion Fortune Is Eviscerated in Days]() \[*Bloomberg*\] **More on the saga:** *[One of the Biggest Crypto Exchanges Suddenly Implodes, Sells Itself to a Rival]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()