Featured Image Credit: @sbf_ftx/Instagram/Alamy
Topics: Cryptocurrency, US News
Cameron Frew
Sam Bankman-Fried is one of the world's richest crypto billionaires - but he doesn't wish to hoard his fortune.
The Californian entrepreneur founded cryptocurrency exchange FTX back in 2019 after spotting a pricing anomaly in Bitcoin.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he now has a fortune of more than $20 billion (£15bn), with his Bahama-based firm and its US arm being valued at more than $40bn (£30bn).
While Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other billionaires literally shoot for the stars with their immense wealth, Bankman-Fried has no interest in being ridiculously rich - and instead, he's become a bit of a Robin Hood figure for the crypto community.
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He believes in effective altruism, a philosophy which advocates 'using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis'.
Despite amassing a huge fortune over the course of three years, his attitude hasn't changed: as per Bloomberg, he only keeps one percent of his earnings, or a minimum of $100,000 a year, so he can enjoy a comfortable live without worrying about money. With regards to the rest, he wants to give it all away.
His commitments have evolved: as the outlet notes, he now makes large political contributions, spends millions on the naming rights for stadiums and more specifically, an estimated $30 million (£23m) on Super Bowl ad with comedian Larry David playing a crypto sceptic.
However, he doesn't work in luxury. Some high-flying executives will kit themselves out in suits and fancy watches, but Bankman-Fried sports ordinary clothes, often sleeps on a beanbag next to his desk and works in a gaming chair.
Bloomberg describes his lifestyle outside of work as that of a 'college student perpetually cramming for finals', driving a Toyota Corolla and often crashing at an apartment with around 10 roommates - albeit, it's a gorgeous penthouse.
Spending billions on himself isn't of any interest to him. "You pretty quickly run out of really effective ways to make yourself happier by spending money. I don’t want a yacht," he said.
He's also a notoriously hard worker, seeing showers, relationships and even sleep as a waste of time in his early days.
Matt Nass, a colleague and childhood friend, said: "Every minute you spend sleeping is costing you X thousand dollars, and that directly means you can save this many less lives."
All of this is on the crest of him really taking on the US crypto market, which is mostly dominated by Coinbase Global Inc. "Ideally, I would want FTX to become the biggest source of financial transactions in the world," Bankman-Fried said.
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