By George Ward
Shark Tank star and investor Kevin O’Leary showed up in a recent CNBC episode. In the episode, the investor provided details about his involvement with the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
He also talked about his failure to properly manage the risk of promoting and investing on the platform. He responded that he was set up, calling it “groupthink.” However, he noted that his investment colleague lost no money.
The celebrity investor revealed that FTX paid him $15 million to promote the crypto exchange. Then, he explained that he paid agent fees and taxes and bought nearly $1 million worth of FTT tokens, FTX’s native token.
Finally, he used $10 million to purchase cryptocurrencies that are now stuck in the crypto exchange. The investor claims he has nothing to show for the deal he made. The investor admitted that the investment he made in FTX was a bad one.
He noted that he doesn’t make suitable investments every time, but he makes more good investments than bad ones. Last month, the FTX cryptocurrency exchange announced that it had gone bankrupt.
Despite the former FTX founder’s claims that the FTX US exchange is still operational, FTX US was included in the court proceedings. However, the crypto exchange admitted that it lent as much as $10 billion worth of user assets to Alameda Research, its trading company.
Some Popular Celebrities That Promoted FTX
Meanwhile, Kevin O’Leary is among the long list of celebrities that promoted the bankrupt FTX crypto exchange aggressively using their influence. At the time, Kevin O’Leary stated that FTX’s compliance system enticed him to invest in the platform.
The celebrity investor wrote these promotional statements on social media handles in August. But he has since deleted the tweets he posted about the platform.
According to reports, FTX investors have filed a class action lawsuit against Sam Bankman Fried, founder, and the then chief executive officer of the fallen crypto exchange. Also, they filed a lawsuit against all the famous people who promoted the platform.
This celebrity list includes Naomi Osaka (a lawn tennis star), Udonis Haslem, the Golden State Warriors (a US-based basketball team), Kevin O’Leary, Shaquille O’Neal, and David Ortiz.