In spreadsheets and Google Docs, Ellison, former CEO of Alameda, analyzed Alameda’s shaky finances with Bankman-Fried. The sister hedge fund to FTX loaded up on hard-to-sell cryptocurrencies, made risky venture investments and took out loans that could be recalled by lenders anytime.
In public, Bankman-Fried increasingly distanced himself from Alameda. In Jan. 2022, he said in a tweet that FTX was launching a $2 billion venture fund. Ellison said the money was in fact coming from Alameda, but Bankman-Fried didn’t like Alameda’s brand as much. Later that year, when Bankman-Fried borrowed money from Alameda to buy shares of retail brokerage Robinhood Markets, he moved the shares to a different entity because he didn’t want to be associated with Alameda, Ellison said