An LLC linked to billionaire Peter Thiel is among a list of FTX equity holders filed by FTX Trading Ltd. and its affiliated debtors as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The famous tech entrepreneur and investor is the latest major name linked to FTX.
The list, which was filed on Jan. 9, outlines the names of equity holders and the number of shares they hold from a variety of FTX subsidiaries, including West Realm Shires Inc, FTX Trading Inc, Clifton Bay Investments and more.
The list also includes details of the holdings of NFL quarterback Tom Brady, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, American TV personality, investor, and paid FTX spokesperson Kevin O’Leary, and several well-known venture capital and investment firms.
The list of shareholders, which was filed on Jan. 9, features names of equity shareholders, and how many shares each held, in FTX subsidiaries, including West Realm Shires, FTX Trading and others.
Peter Thiel’s family trust office Rivendell Trust and venture-capital arm Thiel Capital were both listed in the filing under the name 2021-015 Investments LLC. It received 245,000 shares from West Realm Shires Inc., and a combined value of 57,230 from FTX Trading. Rivendell Trust and Thiel Capital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The filings also included other prominent names, including NFL quarterback Tom Brady, who has 1,144,861 shares in the crypto exchange, and Brady’s ex-wife, model Gisele Bundchen, who has 686,761 shares. Celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary’s production company had 183,781 shares. After the collapse of FTX, O’Leary had told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he’d lost his $15 million payday from his time with FTX. O’Leary did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Other prominent shareholders include Tiger Global Management, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and affiliates of BlackRock Inc. (BLK), according to the document.
FTX, which was valued at $32 billion a year ago, melted down in spectacular fashion in early November, rocking cryptocurrency markets and already leading to other knock-on failures. The exchange filed for bankruptcy just over a week after worries began circulating about its financial health, with a wave of charges for fraud and other financial crimes hitting founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried a month later.
The bankruptcy of FTX and more than a hundred associated firms, including market maker Alameda Research, has tied up billions of dollars in customer funds and wiped away investors’ equity, leaving a long, long line of creditors to sift through the ashes. Typically, equity investors are not a high priority, falling behind secured creditors and bondholders in the case of liquidation.
It leaves little hope for Thiel, whose family trust office Rivendell Trust and venture capital arm Thiel Capital were listed among shareholders of FTX and its subsidiaries, to recoup much investment. Court documents reveal the Thiel vehicles held more than 300,000 shares of FTX or subsidiaries in both common and preferred stock
