NFL legend Tom Brady and his ex-wife Gisele Bundchen were among FTX’s largest individual shareholders before the bankrupt cryptocurrency site collapsed, court documents revealed Tuesday.
FTX shares held by Brady, Bündchen and other celebrity backers are now worthless as officials scramble to salvage the remaining assets and financially rehabilitate abandoned clients.
Brady, 45, owns more than 1.1 million shares of FTX common stock, according to a shareholder list filed in bankruptcy court. Bündchen owns more than 686,000 common shares. The couple finalized their divorce last year.
FTX is privately held, and the exact value of the stakes held by Brady, Bündchen and other investors could not be immediately determined, but their value could be significant. FTX received a $32 billion valuation just months before it crashed in January 2021.
In November, Forbes estimated Brady’s stake at about $45 million and Bündchen’s at about $25 million. The department based its claims on documents Bankman-Fried provided to Forbes.
Other notable entities listed as FTX shareholders include KPC Venture Capital, which is associated with Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots.
KPC Venture Capital owns more than 110,000 Series B preferred shares in FTX’s parent platform, as well as 479,000 common shares and 43,545 Series A preferred shares in West Realm Shires, which controls FTX’s US operations. FTX.
As with all individuals and entities affected by the FTX collapse, shareholders will face an uphill battle to recoup their losses. Under US bankruptcy law, customers, suppliers and other creditors are entitled to income before shareholders.
Other FTX stakeholders include NBA player Udonis Haslem, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund and Wall Street firms such as Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and Thoma Bravo.
Brady and Bündchen played prominent roles as FTX brand ambassadors, while appearing in an ad encouraging everyday people like plumbers and doctors to invest in crypto. The former couple took notes for their promotional efforts.
Last year, Bündchen appeared alongside disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried at the Salt Crypto Bahamas conference, where they shared the stage to discuss sustainability efforts in the cryptocurrency industry.
Brady and Bündchen top a list of high-profile FTX supporters named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of clients who lost money in the bankruptcy.
In the days following FTX’s bankruptcy, Brady quietly deleted tweets promoting the company.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight federal charges. Federal authorities accused him of overseeing a massive fraud and defrauding customers out of billions of dollars.
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