London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

'Shark Tank' host and FTX investor Kevin O'Leary defends Sam Bankman-Fried for demise of his cryptocurrency exchange

'Shark Tank' host and FTX investor Kevin O'Leary defends Sam Bankman-Fried for demise of his cryptocurrency exchange

"Shark Tank" host and FTX investor Kevin O'Leary said he is giving Sam Bankman-Fried the benefit of the doubt in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. 
Fresh off his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, O'Leary — who received $15 million from FTX as a brand ambassador — appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday, where he was grilled about his role in the company and Bankman-Fried's alleged fraud. 

"I don't have the facts," O'Leary said. "[New FTX CEO] John Ray doesn't have them yet. He's going to get them. I'm looking through my records. I'm willing to fund a forensic account of our accounts."

He continued, appearing to defend Bankman-Fried at various points during discussions with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, Joe Kernen, and Becky Quick.

"This is America. The justice system provides the presumption of innocence unless proven otherwise," O'Leary said. 

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday, where he is in custody after US federal prosecutors charged the former CEO on eight counts including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  

Meanwhile, O'Leary is among several celebrity defendants — including NFL star Tom Brady and comedian Larry David — listed in a class-action lawsuit for publicly promoting FTX before its demise.

In the interview, O'Leary defended himself and fellow investors, noting the nature of risk involved in venture capital. 

"Obviously none of us would have wanted to be in this mess if we could've avoided it, but we just didn't know," he said. "Frankly venture investing is you could do all the due diligence you want, eight out of ten go to zero."

O'Leary told CNBC he believes creditors who lost money in FTX should be paid back first, while shareholders who assumed the risk should accept the loss. 

"The shareholders, of which I'm included, I don't think we should get anything back," he said. "We're venture investors, we're big boys, we lost our money, we understand it. I don't want anything back there until the people who had money in their accounts get theirs back."

In the same interview, O'Leary also defended himself against comments from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who called the "Shark Tank" television host a "liar."

"Yesterday on the air, CZ called me a liar. That suggests I perjured myself in front of the US Senate for two hours this week. I can assure you that's not the case," O'Leary said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×