Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk says that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) probably donated over $1 billion to support the Democratic Party, which would be a much larger sum than the number publicly disclosed. Many people slammed Musk for making accusations without providing proof. “This statement is so unbelievably irresponsible,” one commented.
Elon Musk Believes SBF Donated Over $1B to Democratic Party
Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk believes that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), co-founder and former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, donated much more than the publicly disclosed amount to support the Democratic Party in elections.
Bankman-Fried was the second largest donor to the Democratic Party, after billionaire George Soros, in the 2021-2022 election cycle. According to Opensecrets, he donated $39,884,256 to Democrats before FTX imploded and had to file for bankruptcy. An estimated one million customers and investors lost billions of dollars in the exchange collapse. FTX is currently being investigated for mishandling customer funds.
Musk’s statement was in response to a comment on Twitter stating that Bankman-Fried donating $40 million to avoid jail after stealing over $10 billion is one of the highest Return on Investment (ROI) trades of all time. Musk claimed that the $40 billion is just the publicly disclosed number, noting that Bankman-Fried’s actual election support of the Democratic Party is “probably” over $1 billion. “The money went somewhere, so where did it go?” the Tesla boss tweeted.
While his donations to the Democratic Party were public knowledge, Bankman-Fried claimed in an interview that he also donated a similar amount to the Republican Party. However, he said all his Republican donations were “dark.”
At the time of writing, Musk’s tweet has garnered over 4,500 comments and has been liked over 124,000 times. While some people agreed with the Tesla chief, many were shocked at Musk’s accusations, demanding that the billionaire provide proof to support his statement.
“This is literally misinformation,” one exclaimed. Another wrote: “[Musk] baselessly implying SBF broke federal election contribution laws.” A third opined: “Serious accusations by Elon Musk about POTUS accepting stolen funds to run for president.” Some people reminded Musk that Bankman-Fried already explained that he donated the same amount to Republicans. Twitter user Justin Higgins warned:
This statement is so unbelievably irresponsible. Musk has now made Twitter an explicitly anti-Democratic Party company. No sensible, corporation that wants solid relations with both parties on Capitol Hill will advertise on Twitter. I can’t see how Twitter ad $ returns…
Others simply questioned why SBF is not in jail yet. “We just all can do white-collar crimes and pay people off?” one asked. Many people emphasized that they want politicians to return “stolen” funds they received from the former FTX chief executive.
What do you think about Elon Musk’s statement regarding how much Bankman-Fried donated to the Democratic Party? Let us know in the comments section below.