The S.B.F. Chronicles: The Bridge Loan to Nowhere

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Happy Holidays, and welcome back to Dry Powder.

It seems almost miraculous that few foresaw the collapse of FTX until it was already in motion. But there were early warning signs, of course, that Sam Bankman-Fried and his crypto exchange were in trouble. Today’s special issue of Dry Powder contains the first in a series of articles focused on those who were either inside or near the S.B.F. blast radius when the bomb went off. We start with Anthony Scaramucci, aka The Mooch, who was in business with S.B.F. and, as he says, “liked the kid.” But it was during a trip to the Middle East this past fall, when S.B.F. traveled to Saudi Arabia to ask M.B.S. for financing, that The Mooch began to sense something was off...

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The S.B.F. Chronicles: The Bridge Loan to Nowhere

A voyage to the Middle East with Anthony Scaramucci in search of $1 billion led to a meeting with M.B.S.—followed by a peculiar call from S.B.F.’s dad. This piece is the first in a series focused on early S.B.F. warning signs.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

Last September, Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital cut a deal with Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Ventures, the investment arm of his crypto exchange. S.B.F., then the richest Gen-Zer on Earth, agreed to buy a 30 percent stake in The Mooch’s hedge fund-of-funds for $45 million, valuing SkyBridge at $150 million, and giving him an option to buy up to 85 percent of SkyBridge after three years at a higher price. As I noted at the time, it seemed like a marriage made in crypto and SALT conference heaven...

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