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FTX Circled $100M Sponsorship Deal With Taylor Swift Before Implosion: Report

Fallen crypto kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried chased the sponsorship deal as “a fan of Tay Tay,” according to one former employee.

Swiftie, thy name is Sam Bankman-Fried, apparently. Just months before the implosion of FTX, its 30-year-old CEO was aggressively pushing for the crypto exchange to partner with hitmaker Taylor Swift, according to a report from CNBC. It follows earlier reporting by the Financial Times, which said Wednesday that FTX had been in the final stages of negotiating a potential $100-million sponsorship deal with Swift’s camp when talks fell apart in the spring. Bankman-Fried, “a fan of Tay Tay” in the words of one former employee, pursued the deal against the advice of several of his lieutenants, who viewed the price tag as “really fucking high,” according to one person familiar with the negotiations. The discussions, which at one point included a ticketing deal centered around non-fungible tokens, began last fall, according to the Times. FTX also chased a “light degree of endorsement” on social media from Swift, another ex-staffer told the Times, though the 11-time Grammy winner reportedly never considered championing the company.