We Now Know (Allegedly) How Much Sam Bankman-Fried Paid Tom Brady, Steph Curry And Larry David For Their FTX Endorsements
ByJoseph Gibsonon October 4, 2023inArticles›Celebrity News
The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange will likely be documented in countless books. One of the first entrants is “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon” by Michael Lewis . Lewis recently appeared on the CBS TV newsmagazine “60 Minutes” to talk about the crazy real-life story.
One of the more interesting tidbits from his book and the interview is that Bankman-Fried paid NFL superstar Tom Brady $55 million… for what amounted to about a week’s work.
Granted, that’s a week spread out across three years, but still not a bad deal for Brady. “He paid Tom Brady $55 million for 20 hours a year for three years,” said Lewis, who was granted close access to Bankman-Fried during the final months of FTX. During the FTX glory days, Bankman-Fried had a penchant for spending large amounts of money on celebrity endorsements, spending big to get huge names on board, names like Brady, Steph Curry , and even “Curb Your Enthusiasm” auteur Larry David for one memorable Super Bowl commercial.
According to Michael Lewis, Steph Curry was paid $35 million to perform roughly the same amount of work as Tom Brady, while Larry David earned $10 million to star in one Super Bowl commercial for the now-defunct crypto company. That $10 million fee for Larry is on top of the $25 million FTX paid to produce the commercial, which also happened to feature a subtle cameo from Sam’s father Joseph Bankman, who was apparently a huge Larry David fan.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
When news of Bankman-Fried’s alleged crimes and the implosion of FTX first reached Tom Brady, Lewis told “60 Minutes” the quarterback was initially “crushed” before his attitude evolved:
“[Brady] really liked him and he really liked the hope that he brought…As time has gone by and he’s ceased to get a really good explanation about what’s happened, I think [Brady] is just like, ‘He tricked me. I’m angry. I don’t want to have anything to do with it anymore.’”
Today many of the celebrities who endorsed FTX, including other big names like Shaquille O’Neal and Brady’s ex-wife Gisele Bündchen , are facing a class-action lawsuit from FTX investors.
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- Feds Seize Roughly $700 Million In Financial Assets Connected To Sam Bankman-Fried
- Who Paid Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 Million Bail?! SBF Really Doesn’t Want You To Know
- Vanquished In 12 Hours: Sam Bankman-Fried Just Experienced The Biggest Single-Day Wealth Evisceration Ever
- Tom Brady Took Equity When He Agreed To Endorse FTX… That Decision Is Looking Like A Big Old Zero Today
