A journalist who interviewed Sam Bankman-Fried about FTX's collapse said it 'felt like a therapy session' for the crypto mogul

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A journalist who interviewed Sam Bankman-Fried about FTX's collapse said it 'felt like a therapy session' for the crypto mogul
Sam Bankman-Fried founded the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.Tom Williams/Getty Images
  • A Good Morning America journalist said interviewing ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried "felt like a therapy session."
  • "He just had a lot to get off his chest and clearly wanted to get through this," George Stephanopoulos said.
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An Good Morning America journalist said that interviewing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried "felt like a therapy session" for the crypto mogul.

"He really wanted to talk," George Stephanopoulos said. "He just had a lot to get off his chest and clearly wanted to get through this."

Stephanopoulos said that during a short phone call with Bankman-Fried on Saturday, the ex-CEO invited him to fly over to the Bahamas the next day to talk to him. Stephanopoulos interviewed Bankman-Fried for around two hours on Monday for Good Morning America.

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"At some level, it felt like a therapy session," Stephanopoulos said. It seemed like Bankman-Fried "felt that it was really important for him to get his story out," he said.

Stephanopoulos added that Bankman-Fried had gone against the advice of his lawyers by speaking to a reporter. He had said on Wednesday at The New York Times' DealBook Summit that his lawyers had advised him not to speak publicly about the circumstances around FTX's collapse.

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When asked by Stephanopoulos whether he was worried about going to jail, Bankman-Fried said: "There are a lot of things that are worrying me right now, and as best as possible I am trying to focus on what I can do going forward to be helpful."

"At the end of the day, it's not my call what happens and the world will judge as it will," he added.

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