“Tom Brady Is One of Them”: Now Bankrupt FTX CEO Once Praised Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen for Their Massive Investment in His Failed Venture

Nov 12, 2022 | 10:00 AM EST

“Tom Brady Is One of Them”: Now Bankrupt FTX CEO Once Praised Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen for Their Massive Investment in His Failed Venture

Nov 12, 2022 | 10:00 AM EST

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has gone bankrupt. He lost his entire $16 billion dollar fortune in a matter of days when his company dropped more than 72% in value. But he has seen better days. And what better day than when he signed NFL great Tom Brady and his now ex-wife Gisele Bündchen as partners back in 2021?

And he praised them immensely for their investments in his now-failed venture.

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Partners who hold the world’s collective imagination

FTX, one of the biggest crypto exchanges, might be going bust now. Its CEO has lost his entire fortune. The only olive branch the company had, the Binance rescue deal, is off the table. But the company saw its share of sunny days under Sam Bankman-Fried. They had Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen as investors and partners. The businessman once outlined his plan to sign partners who “hold the world’s collective imagination.”

He spoke about it at the Solana Breakpoint conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2021. Bankman-Fried pointed out that the number of such people that fulfill FTX’s criteria is, “very, very small.” “And I think Tom Brady is one of them. Gisele is one of them,” he said.

FTX signed many deals with stars from different fields, but it couldn’t prevent the company from facing critical financial troubles. The cryptocurrency exchange, once valued at $32 billion, is now on a brink of a collapse.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen attached almost their entire net worth to FTX

June 2021 was a good time for Tom Brady. He had just won the Super Bowl for the seventh time a few months ago with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And it was a good time to invest in the cryptocurrency market as well. So Brady and his now ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, signed a deal with the crypto exchange FTX that month.

It was an equity deal that made Brady the brand ambassador of the company. The deal also gave Bündchen an environmental and social initiatives adviser role in the company. And the couple attached a handsome portion of their $600 million net worth to the investment.

Fast forward to 2022, the exchange has dropped 72% in value. The cryptocurrency market is in shambles. That may see both Brady and Bündchen lose a major chunk of their net worth. And crypto giant Binance has backed out of a penny-over-a-dollar deal to buy out the company, saying that the situation is beyond their ability to help.

Watch this story: Tom Brady Went to The Same High School As This Controversial MLB Hall of Famer Who Was Also A 14x All-Star

Written by

Shivam Pratap Singh

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Shivam Pratap Singh is a seasoned NFL writer at Essentially Sports. With a master's degree in international and area studies from a prestigious university, Shivam leverages his academic background to gain a deeper understanding of the global impact of sports. Shivam's passion for football developed early in his career as a writer. One of his breakthrough moments as a writer came when he reported on the '49ers GM John Lynch QB Announcement', demonstrating his talent for breaking news and providing insightful analysis. When not immersed in football, Shivam keeps up with the latest happenings in his favorite soccer club, Manchester United, and the wild European soccer scene. He is a passionate fan of the sport and enjoys writing about the intersection of football and culture.

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Edited by

Gurjyot Singh Dadial