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Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

nytimes.com

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Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#571

Post by [deleted] »

rTX5CMRXIfFG wrote: post #527
FFP999 wrote: post #393

> You’d think this MIT graduate would wise up, but he never did. The MIT campus has a major public road running through the middle of it, one of the busiest surface streets in the area. You don't have to stand there very long to see a crowd of students almost get hit by a car because they didn't look before they crossed the street. Point is, the old cliche is true, there really is such a thing as a person with a lot…

Oh come on, you’re just using a stereotype here and hurling it at MIT students as a whole it’s almost as if the remark is just supposed to make you feel better about yourself. What you said isn’t even relevant to the FTX case and it’s highly unlikely that someone who’s “just book-smart” will have SBF’s connections to commit a crime of this scale.

[deleted]

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#573

Post by j7ake »

When are we going to stop calling him a “book smart kid who lacked common sense and things spiralled out of control” to “scam artist who is too dumb to keep his mouth shut”?

There is no evidence this person is smart in any way, yet some people still portray it as a narrative.

There are dumb people at MIT (and at every institute or company) let’s admit it.

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#574

Post by jokethrowaway »

StressedDev wrote: post #476
throw_m239339 wrote: post #354

I'm curious about the political donations aspect of the story. Can a court force politicians who got money from FTX/SBF to give back to creditors?

In practice, I don't think it matters. Here is why: 1. The donations to candidates are usually pretty small (think $2,900/candidate). The candidates can return the money but getting all of the money back will not do much for the creditors. 2. Some PACs got a LOT of money (think millions of dollars). The problem is they probably already spent it. You can probably sue them to try to get back the money but the PACs will…

Except there are 5M, 200k, 300k donations

Still small compared to all the stolen money

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#575

Post by jalapenos »

BXlnt2EachOther wrote: post #511
jacquesm wrote: post #147

That happened fast! I expected it to drag on for much longer. Wonder if he'll appeal.

yes, seemed quick for all the reasons sibling posts mention. appeals aside, it's not over... We've had first trial, yes, but what about second trial? Four charges had been separated out into a second trial for March 11 of next year. Same judge, different jury? May have been due to logistical reasons or discussions with the Bahamanian government around extradition. It sounds like the government has the option of dropp…

Why does the sentencing happen so long after the verdict?

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#576

Post by jahewson »

thordenmark wrote: post #341

SBF was the largest donor to the Democrat party. Can we rehold those elections?

Quick back of the envelope calculation based on FEC data for 2022 says that SBF’s $40m donation accounted for about 0.03% of Democratic-aligned PAC donations. PACs across the political spectrum raised over $7bn and spent over $6bn.

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#577

Post by kuhewa »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #507
FFP999 wrote: post #393

> You’d think this MIT graduate would wise up, but he never did. The MIT campus has a major public road running through the middle of it, one of the busiest surface streets in the area. You don't have to stand there very long to see a crowd of students almost get hit by a car because they didn't look before they crossed the street. Point is, the old cliche is true, there really is such a thing as a person with a lot…

That's been my impression of SBF since FTX collapsed. Quite book smart, but zero experience in building a major service that custodies billions in other peoples' money. Raw intelligence is not enough in that context. Ideally you want to have apprenticed for at least a few years at a real exchange or custodial service. Somewhere you learn all the engineering details about how to architect it with proper financial cont…

He wouldn't want a bunch of proper engineering because that would prevent him from betting with billions of customers' deposits that were supposed to be safe.

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#578

Post by [deleted] »

akira2501 wrote: post #377
hintymad wrote: post #243

I was reading the trial report by Inner City Press. The AUSAs were incredibly thorough and strategic. The evidences were air-tight, the cross-examination was masterfully controlled with precision and incisiveness, and of course the closing argument was forceful. It was a great joy to read the report, as if I was watching an extended episode of The Good Fight. On the other hand, the defense was really weak, quite hand…

> The evidences were air-tight SBF is a dumb criminal, who then screwed over everyone he abused into creating this theft. I honestly can't imagine many easier setups, less sympathetic defendants, or parades of pissed off co-workers willing to put the knife in him before he got it in them. > SBF did not have any intention of committing a crime. His fraud started early on, and he used the same tactic over and over agai…

[deleted]

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#579

Post by pkulak »

FFP999 wrote: post #393

> You’d think this MIT graduate would wise up, but he never did. The MIT campus has a major public road running through the middle of it, one of the busiest surface streets in the area. You don't have to stand there very long to see a crowd of students almost get hit by a car because they didn't look before they crossed the street. Point is, the old cliche is true, there really is such a thing as a person with a lot…

What a bunch of Jays.

Re: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted

#580

Post by bmitc »

j7ake wrote: post #573

When are we going to stop calling him a “book smart kid who lacked common sense and things spiralled out of control” to “scam artist who is too dumb to keep his mouth shut”? There is no evidence this person is smart in any way, yet some people still portray it as a narrative. There are dumb people at MIT (and at every institute or company) let’s admit it.

I agree. The more we learn, the more he looks like a tweaked out Miles Bron. He doesn't seem to understand how anything actually works.
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