Sam Bankman-Fried admits: Handing over the management of FTX to John Ray was the biggest mistake of my life.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, admitted in interviews from prison that transferring control of the company to CEO John Ray III in November 2022 was the “biggest mistake” of his life, due to strong pressure from the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and advisers.

Despite being convicted of seven counts of fraud and money laundering and serving a 25-year prison sentence, he still asserts that FTX has never gone bankrupt and has not defrauded anyone. His parents, Stanford law scholars Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, intend to appeal, arguing that the law firm has usurped power and profited while contributing to his imprisonment.

The bankruptcy costs of FTX, including nearly $250 million in lawyer fees and a $30 million bonus for Ray, are expected to exceed $1 billion. John Ray countered, asserting that SBF's claims about liquidity were false and praised the legal team for recovering billions of dollars for creditors. The role of Sullivan & Cromwell in FTX is being scrutinized by senators and bankruptcy experts.