FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) cashed out $300 million in a series of fundraisings last year, according to FTX financial records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter. 

Last October, FTX raised $420 million from a string of high-profile investors. The company said at the time that the capital would help grow the business, improve user experience and give it greater access to regulators.

Yet nearly three-quarters of the money, or $300 million, went instead to SBF, which sold some of his personal stake in the company, financial records show. 

The size of SBF’s cash out was reportedly huge by startup standards, and according to some people familiar with the matter, SBF told investors at the time that this was compensation for some of the funds he spent buying Binance’s stake in FTX a few months ago.

By Bitpush Mary Liu