Kevin O’Leary admitted to making a huge mistake with FTX and is now looking into where his money went during the bankruptcy.
Kevin O’Leary, a Shark Tank star and investor known as “Mr. Wonderful” in some circles, claims he has nearly lost the $15 million FTX paid him to be its official spokesperson.
On CNBC’s Squawk Box on December 8, O’Leary stated that after taxes, agent fees, a $1 equity investment into FTX, and purchasing a large amount of cryptocurrency that is now stuck on the FTX exchange, he has nothing to show for his time with FTX.
“The total deal was just under $15 million, and I invested about $9.7 million in cryptocurrency.” That’s what I believe I’ve lost. I’m not sure because my account was scraped a couple of weeks ago. “All the information, all the coins, everything.”
“It was not a good investment. I don’t always make good investments; fortunately, I make more good ones than bad ones,” he added.
He’ll probably be fine without the money, as the 68-year-old is estimated to have a net worth of around $400 million if such estimates are correct.
Mr. Wonderful was also questioned about what prompted him to jump on the FTX bandwagon in August 2021, given that he previously stated that he avoided crypto in its early days due to his own stringent compliance standards.
In response, he basically admitted to making a huge mistake, saying, “I obviously know all the institutional investors in this deal, and we all look like idiots, so let’s put that on the table.”
“We relied on each other’s diligence, but we also relied on another investment theme that I thought drove a lot of interest in FTX.” Sam Bankman-Fried is an American, and his parents are compliance lawyers in the United States. “There were no other large exchanges in America to invest in infrastructure plays,” he explained.
O’Leary reiterated that he is currently working to determine where his FTX capital went and how he can reclaim it. He also stated that he has “agreed” to testify at the upcoming Senate Committee hearing, which is scheduled for December 14.
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