Sam Bankman-Fried gambled on a trial and his parents lost | Hacker News Reader

Sam Bankman-Fried gambled on a trial and his parents lost

theverge.com

12 pointstheyinwhy11 comments

Excellent writing as usual from Elizabeth Lopatto. Her coverage of this trial has been phenomenally good.

The coin flip/destroy the world metaphor really came full circle. I like how she tied off the end there.

I can’t bring myself to be that sad for Bankman, Fried, or their kid, when people go to jail every day for the wrong reasons and never see their family again. He’s going for the right reasons.

His father was in on the take. Sam offered him a pay of about $250K/yr for part-time work. Doing philanthropy. Giving away money that belonged to FTX customers. Dad got really upset and said he expected around $1 mil/yr and added mom to the email conversation to apply pressure on Sam.

The parents aren't innocent in this scam.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

His parents deserved this, and more.

Why?

His father, at least, was deeply involved with FTX. From the article:

> Their FTX entanglement has certainly marred their reputation at the end of their lives — that $26 million in cash and real estate in 2022 looks very different now. ...

> But it’s not just the money. This trial revealed Bankman-Fried’s father was in 17 Signal group chats associated with FTX, including the “small group chat” that was attempting to stave off FTX’s impending collapse. Joseph Bankman was mentioned in witness testimony about Bankman-Fried’s meetings with Bahamian regulators.

An example of a way below the waistline opinion piece.

You've made a rather unfair comment in my opinion. It is a personal perspective short, offering a view of a part of the FTX fallout which people may not have thought about.

I don't disagree with you in general, but this specific fallout is not due to them being the innocent parents of a guilty son. Their reputation was mostly harmed because of their invovlement in FTX and how they benefited from it, how they reacted after the collapse and how this is so antithetical to their image as ethical role models of society. I think this comment from the same article gives much more info https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/2/23944485/sam-bankman-frie...

Let me give you my reasoning. The piece is largely based on assumptions. We do not know what went on behind the curtains. The chance of him not consulting his parents (who are well versed in law) is very slim. The chance of his parents not consulting other lawyers to get a good grip on the situation: also very slim. Therefore the idea of him deliberately bringing down his parents by choosing to not plead guilty seems out of this world. Additionally, it is just too hypocritical imho. Claiming he is bringing down his parents while bringing down his parents.

But that’s the point. He did consult his parents, extensively. They took money from FTX, through Sam. They bought a mansion in the Bahamas and filled it with nice furniture, ultimately from customer deposits.

We know all of this from evidence which withstood the scrutiny and burden of proof in court. What part is hypothetical?

It wasn’t News, or Opinion. It was a Feature.

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