Good day everyone,
I hope you are all well and having excellent day, welcome to CryptoGod-1’s blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the recent revelation from Sam Bankman-Friend that Tom Brady and his then wife Gisele Bündchen were due to receive $55 million in payment of 20 hours work as FTX ambassadors.
Ambassador Tom Brady
It has emerged that Sam Bankman-Fried had made an agreement to pay Tom Brady and his then wife Gisele Bündchen $55 million. This money would have been paid for only 20 hours of his time annually over a span of three years. It had been widely reported that SBF had little interest in sports, being more of a video game kind of guy, but that did not stop him or his company FTX entering into a lucrative partnerships with Brady and his then-wife Gisele Bündchen.
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Both were hired as ambassadors for the company, and Brady participated in TikTok videos, public events, and commercials to promote the company. Back in 2021 the former quarterback managed to secure an endorsement deal that ensured a payment of $30 million, primarily in FTX stock. As noted in a recent publication by the Washington Post, which was adapted from Michael Lewis's forthcoming book on FTX titled "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon," there was more to this deal than first met the eye.
The report notes how SBF agreed to pay Brady $55 million and Bündchen nearly $20 million for their limited amount of work annually, which would have seen 20 hours work per annum. To give context to this payment, in one of his final seasons in the NFL Brady managed to earn around $30 million for his on-field performance for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This figure was estimated by Forbes.
Michael Lewis went on to explain how what was initially a comfortable financial arrangement for Brady eventually grew into a genuine friendship. Lewis described Brady as "adoring" Bankman-Fried and that Brady found SBF to be extremely fascinating. Brady in particular enjoyed hearing SBF's perspective on things. The got on remarkably well, and Lewis noted:
"He really liked Tom Brady. And Sam wasn’t, like, a big sports person, so it was funny to watch that interaction."
The eventual collapse of FTX dealt a significant financial blow to Brady, meaning the company shares he had been promised were not worthless, while the personal impact it had on the football star's life was far reaching. Brady was crushed by the collapse and turn of events according to Lewis:
“And I think as time has gone by, and he’s ceased to get a really good explanation about what’s happened—I think he’s just like, ‘He tricked me. I’m angry. I don’t wanna have anything to do with it anymore.'”
Lewis went on to expose management failures at FTX, along with the alarming disappearance of billions of dollars with the financial empire SBF had created. Lewis is reported to have confronted SBF regarding his lack of awareness around the $8 billion or so of customer funds which were mixed into his own private funds. SBF disputed it as a mere rounding error and that the amount felt inconsequential at the time. According to SBF, they had infinite funds at their disposal at the time and it was merely a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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