Salon: “Sam Bankman-Fried says he's secretly the ‘third-biggest Republican donor’ thanks to ‘dark money’”
Sam Bankman-Fried speaks at Moonlight Gala benefitting CARE - Children With Special Needs - at Casa Cipriani on June 23, 2022 in New York City. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for CARE For Special Children )
The FTX founder says he kept donations private because "reporters freak the f--k out if you donate to Republicans"
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX, claims to be the third-biggest donor to the Republican Party — but says he kept it quiet to avoid criticism.
"All my Republican donations were dark," Bankman-Fried told cryptocurrency commentator and YouTuber Tiffany Fong. He said he didn't publicly disclose the donations because "reporters freak the fuck out if you donate to Republicans."
Bankman-Fried was also the second-largest Democratic donor during the last election, but said he gave just as much to the GOP privately because reporters are "all super liberal, and I didn't want to have that fight so I made all the Republican ones dark."
Among the lawmakers who have pledged to return the money they received after FTX went bankrupt are Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, D-Ill., and Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla.
Bankman-Fried says it is "not generally known" that he is the "third-biggest Republican donor this year as well." He reportedly donated $40 million to Democrats last election cycle, and if the same amount was given to Republicans, that would make Bankman-Fried their fifth-largest individual donor, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.
