LOSSES MOUNTING

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Parents Face Financial Ruin From His Legal Fees: Report

Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried reportedly told friends about their impending money troubles.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Stanford Law professor parents expect to face financial ruin paying for their son’s legal fees following the spectacular collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange last month, according to a report. The failure of the 30-year-old former billionaire’s business, FTX, has sparked a flurry of investigations and legal issues after it emerged that it had lent customers’ cash to support a sister trading firm. Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried—both professors at Stanford Law School—have “told friends that their son’s legal bills will likely wipe them out financially,” The Wall Street Journal reports. Bankman-Fried’s mother and father are also said to be personally supporting him in the Bahamas as both legal advisers and concerned parents. The Journal also reports that as FTX’s implosion began, Bankman contacted David Mills, a Stanford Law colleague who specializes in criminal defense. Within a few days, Mills reportedly contacted Bankman to warn: “Sam needs lawyers, and desperately.”