SBF’s mom fought back tears and his dad slumped down when the jury said their son was guilty on all 7 counts

News Room
  • Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents nearly broke down in court after a jury announced their son’s verdict.
  • A jury convicted the founder on fraud and conspiracy charges; he could face 110 years in prison.
  • Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both Stanford Law faculty, are tied up in the FTX scandal. 

Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents nearly broke down in a Manhattan federal court on Thursday after a jury found the FTX founder guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy — charges that could carry a sentence of up to 110 years in prison.

As the jury announced the verdict, Barbara Fried, Bankman-Fried’s mother, seemed to fight back tears. Joseph Bankman, Bankman-Fried’s father, slumped over with one hand on his wife’s shoulder.

As the courtroom cleared out, Bankman-Fried’s parents stood and embraced. After Fried wiped a tear from her face, she and Bankman walked out of the courtroom in silence. The response was a far cry from her reported laughter in the courtroom last year.

Their son’s conviction came a year after the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange Bankman-Fried ran.

Bankman-Fried, along with other executives, funneled customer money from the exchange to his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and their own pockets, purchasing expensive real estate in the Bahamas, and making political donations.

Bankman-Fried’s parents, both of whom are longtime Stanford law professors, were caught up in the FTX scandal.

In September, FTX Trading filed a lawsuit against Bankman and Fried, accusing them of extracting millions of dollars from FTX and using them for their own personal benefit.

The company alleges that the couple accepted a $10 million cash gift and a $16.4 million property from the company despite knowing FTX was on the verge of collapse. The FTX lawsuit described its crypto exchange as afamily business.”

The couple’s lawyers have called the allegations “completely false.”

Bankman reportedly helped develop marketing materials and was a key legal advisor to FTX.

Bankman and Fried reside in a multimillion-dollar home in the San Francisco Bay area, where Bankman-Fried was required to stay at while he awaited trial.

“Anyone close to me, including my parents and employees and coworkers, who fought with the company to push forward, they were hurt by this,” Bankman-Fried said last year. “I feel really grateful for the support my parents are still giving me throughout all of this.”

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