Media startup says it will buy back $10 million SBF stake: Report

Media start-up Semafor said connected Jan. 18 that it volition effort to bargain backmost erstwhile FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s $10 cardinal stock of the company, according to a January 18 study from the New York Times. The study stated that Semafor volition question to raise wealth from different sources to marque up for what it is giving back.

Scoop: Sam Bankman-Fried invested astir $10 cardinal of Semafor’s $25 cardinal round, making him the company’s biggest extracurricular investor. Semafor is buying backmost his involvement and putting that wealth into a abstracted relationship portion it raises caller $$$https://t.co/3KQ5SwpDxQ

— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) January 18, 2023

The $10 cardinal was portion of a $25 cardinal effect backing circular that allowed Semafor to get started with its quality site, which launched successful October, 2022.

Semafor is the latest successful a drawstring of quality sites and governmental groups that person said they volition return wealth fixed to them by the failed crypto speech and its executives.

It had disclosed the concern connected December 2, but astatine the clip it had not committed to returning the money, saying lone that it would consult with attorneys and authorities agencies earlier deciding what to bash next. This caller study cited the company's co-founder Justin Smith, stating that “We are readying to repurchase Sam Bankman-Fried’s involvement successful Semafor, and to spot the wealth into a abstracted relationship until the applicable ineligible authorities supply guidance arsenic to wherever the wealth should beryllium returned.”

Sam Bankman-Fried was a predominant contributor to politicians and media groups, and critics person accused him of attempting to usage these contributions to power the communicative astir his companies. Some companies person sought to region themselves from him and his firms since the crypto speech helium founded went bankrupt. On December 9, the CEO of crypto quality tract The Block resigned aft it was discovered that he had obtained loans from Alameda Research, a subsidiary of SBF’s FTX Group, which helium had not disclosed publicly.

Related: FTX fallout: SBF proceedings could acceptable precedent for the crypto industry

The Block’s caller CEO has called this deficiency of disclosure “a superior deficiency of judgment” connected the portion of the erstwhile CEO and has powerfully denied that the fiscal woody had immoderate effect connected the company’s editorial decisions.

FTX filed for bankruptcy successful November, 2022 aft suffering a liquidity situation that prevented it from being capable to grant withdrawals. SBF himself has been arrested connected fraud charges, and pled not guilty connected January 3.