In a legal note, FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, challenged the previous statements made by SBF regarding the financial health of the company.
John J. Ray, the current CEO of FTX, recently refuted the statements made by his predecessor, SBF, regarding the alleged financial stability of the company at the time of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In a court letter addressed to Judge Lewis Kaplan, Ray deemed SBF’s claims about FTX’s solvency at the time of his departure unfounded. Before the court, Ray argued that the company had been in significant distress for several months due to SBF’s mismanagement.
Efforts for fund recovery
Ray is leading his team in an attempt to recover part of the exchange’s funds. Upon assuming office, the company held only 105 bitcoins, despite customer claims totaling nearly 100,000 bitcoins. After extensive work, Ray’s team managed to recover assets worth $7 billion, covering a portion of the $8.7 billion debt owed to customers.
However, Ray emphasized that repayment to customers and creditors will depend on the government’s waiver of over $9 billion in fines and penalties related to SBF’s crimes. According to Ray, the bankruptcy process will not fully cover the financial losses incurred by creditors and investors.
The current CEO reiterated the importance of his team’s work in mitigating the financial damage caused by SBF, suggesting that without their efforts, customer losses would have been greater.
