Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, who was convicted of stealing $8 billion from his customers, was sentenced today to 25 years in prison. He was also ordered to forfeit $11.2 billion in assets.
The sentence was shorter than the 40 to 50 years requested by federal prosecutors, but well above the six and a half years sought by his defense lawyers. It ranks as one of the longest sentences imposed on a white-collar defendant in recent years.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted last fall of seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. His prison sentence marks the finale of a sweeping fraud case that exposed greed and risk-taking across the loosely regulated world of cryptocurrencies. Just 18 months ago, Bankman-Fried was considered a corporate titan and one of the youngest billionaires on the planet. Then, virtually overnight, FTX imploded, erasing billions in customer savings.
Bankman-Fried has vowed to appeal his conviction. But in his remarks during his sentencing hearing in New York City today, he appeared to accept that he would be in prison for some time. “At the end of the day, my useful life is probably over now,” he said.
Biden calls on his predecessors to help him raise funds
President Biden will take the stage tonight at Radio City Music Hall in New York City alongside his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, in what his campaign claims will be the “most successful political fund-raiser in American history.” Biden hopes to rake in $25 million to further extend his cash advantage over Donald Trump.
But the event highlights a political paradox unique to the Biden era. While many historians and policy experts argue that the president has had more legislative victories in his first term than either Obama or Clinton did, he remains the least popular of the trio.
Elsewhere in New York City, Trump appeared at the wake of a slain police officer and proclaimed the need for the country to “get back to law and order.”
Doctors worry about migrant children at holding sites
The steady flow of migrants entering the U.S. at its border with Mexico has overwhelmed the country’s immigration processing system. Many migrants, including unaccompanied children, have waited for hours or even days in outdoor holding areas, where a lack of shelter, food and sanitation has caused several health experts to voice concerns.
The Justice Department argues that the children are not yet in custody, and therefore the U.S. is not obligated to provide them with certain services. But a federal judge could rule as soon as tomorrow on whether the government is legally required to provide shelter and feed the children as they wait.
The long decline of Sean Combs
The hip-hop mogul Sean Combs — who has also been known as Puff Daddy or Diddy — triumphantly declared two decades ago that he was living “the American dream.” He wasn’t exaggerating: His restless ambition earned him not just music success but also a reality show, a fashion label, a fragrance line and his own cable network.
But within the last year, as accusations of sexual assault and sex trafficking began to pile up, his business empire, and reputation, faltered. Federal agents this week raided two of his homes. People who know Combs told The Times that his downfall was more of a slow decline than a sudden crash.
‘Serial’ returns with a history of Guantánamo
The team behind the “Serial” podcast is back with a fourth season that focuses on the untold stories from the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The narrative is told by people who lived through key moments in the evolution of Guantánamo, where the U.S. improvised a new kind of justice system.
The most defining furniture pieces of the last century
My colleagues at T, The Times’s style magazine, just published a list of the most significant furniture of the last 100 years. It’s an attempt to recognize the most enduring objects for living through the tastes of six experts, including a museum curator, an artist and the actress Julianne Moore.
The list includes both the outlandish (a huge pink glowing mirror) and the basic (a white plastic chair). Check it out.
Looking for a museum alternative? Consider Tiffany.
When Tiffany & Co. renovated its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City last year, it transformed a luxury jewelry sales floor into a heady fusion of contemporary art and luxury retailing that is as relevant as anything you could hope to find in a museum.
The 10-story space is filled with 58 pieces from major artists, many of them blue, or silver, or both. There’s a color-shifting James Turrell oval by the elevators and a shiny Damien Hirst piece hanging on a wall. But the key work is Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting “Equals Pi,” from 1982, his milestone year.
Have an elegant evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
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