Stanford University, based in California, has announced its intention to return all funds it received from FTX, the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, as reported by Bloomberg.
Stanford had received a substantial sum of $5.5 million in gifts from entities associated with FTX between November 2021 and May 2022. A spokesperson from the university confirmed this decision in an email statement issued on September 19, stating, “We have been in discussions with attorneys for the FTX debtors to recover these gifts, and we will be returning the funds in their entirety.”
It’s important to note that Stanford emphasized that these funds were primarily received from the FTX Foundation and FTX-related companies for pandemic-related prevention and research purposes.
Legal Controversy Surrounding Former FTX CEO’s Parents and Stanford University
This move by Stanford University comes at a time when the parents of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, namely Alan Bankman and Barbara Fried, both legal scholars who have taught at Stanford Law School, are facing allegations of misappropriation of funds from the crypto exchange.
On September 18, FTX debtors initiated a lawsuit against the two individuals, accusing them of enriching themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars through their involvement with the exchange. Court documents further claim that Bankman was operating as a “de facto officer” at FTX Group.
Intriguingly, the legal battle also includes allegations that Bankman raised concerns about his annual salary, which stood at $200,000, and these concerns were not addressed by SBF or FTX US. According to court documents, Bankman had expected an annual salary of $1 million.
