What Kind of Mess Did SBF Leave Behind in the Bahamas?
New York magazine|November 21 - December 4, 2022
On the ground in Nassau, where FTX's riches are up for grabs.
KEVIN T. DUGAN
What Kind of Mess Did SBF Leave Behind in the Bahamas?

EVERYONE IN NASSAU is talking about it: At Café Matisse, an upscale restaurant near Parliament, two men loudly discuss the fallout from Sam Bankman-Fried’s leveled $32 billion business. At a small coffee shop in a mall across the street from the site where FTX planned to build a new headquarters, a local businessman approaches me to ask if I am “the FTX guy.” (I’m a white guy with dark curly hair, but come on). Local radio stations report the news at the top of each broadcast. Rumors are everywhere about who got supersize donations, the blowout parties at Bankman-Fried’s apartment held before the crash, luxury condos bought for multiples over asking price. “The Realtors here never made so much money in their life,” one developer tells me. Gone, though, are most of the signs and advertisements. Not that there were that many anyway. While the company spent big to brand the arena for the Miami Heat, one of the few visible remnants of FTX here is the digital billboard above Customs at the airport. The employees who wore company swag out to bars and restaurants downtown have pretty much all skipped the island.

In the Bahamas, where FTX has been headquartered since September 2021, the biggest question is who will get a piece of what’s left.

This story is from the November 21 - December 4, 2022 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the November 21 - December 4, 2022 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINEView All
Enchanting and Exhausting
New York magazine

Enchanting and Exhausting

Wicked makes a charming but bloated film.

time-read
5 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Nicole Kidman Lets Loose
New York magazine

Nicole Kidman Lets Loose

She's having a grand old time playing wealthy matriarchs on the verge of blowing their lives up.

time-read
6 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality
New York magazine

How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality

Directing him in Austin Powers taught me what it means to be really, truly funny.

time-read
4 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
The Art of Surrender
New York magazine

The Art of Surrender

Four decades into his career, Willem Dafoe is more curious about his craft than ever.

time-read
10 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back
New York magazine

The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back

ON A WARM NIGHT in October, a red carpet ran down a length of East 26th Street.

time-read
2 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Showing Its Age
New York magazine

Showing Its Age

Borgo displays a confidence that can he only from experience.

time-read
3 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth
New York magazine

Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth

Jack Ceglic and Manuel Fernandez-Casteleiro's apartment is full of stories but not distractions.

time-read
3 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK
New York magazine

REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK

THERE'S NOT MUCH in New York that has staying power. Every other day, a new scandal outscandals whatever we were just scandalized by; every few years, a hotter, scarier downtown set emerges; the yoga studio up the block from your apartment that used to be a coffee shop has now become a hybrid drug front and yarn store.

time-read
4 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras
New York magazine

Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras

A Rift in the Family My in-laws gave me a book by a eugenicist. Our relationship is over.

time-read
5 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024
Gwen Whiting
New York magazine

Gwen Whiting

Two years after a mass recall and a bacterial outbreak, the founder of the Laundress is on cleanup duty.

time-read
6 mins  |
Dec 2-15, 2024