Sam Bankman-Fried says figuring out how to pay his lawyers is a 'concern' after his fortune fell to 'close to nothing'

• Sam Bankman-Fried says he's "trying to figure out" how to pay his lawyers, calling it a "concern."
• After FTX collapsed, Bankman-Fried's fortune plummeted from around $16 billion to "close to nothing."

Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder and former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, says figuring out how to pay his lawyers is a "concern."

After FTX collapsed in November, Bankman-Fried's fortune plummeted from $16 billion to $1 billion, with Bloomberg putting the value of both FTX and sister company Alameda at just $1.

Bankman-Fried told Axios on Monday that he had "no idea" about the status of his personal finances and that he had $100,000 in his bank account the last time he checked. He said at The New York Times' DealBook summit on Wednesday that he had "close to nothing" left.

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Bankman-Fried discussed his finances further during a Twitter Space hosted by Mario Nawfal. When asked by Chet Long, chief security officer at International Blockchain Consulting, how he was paying his lawyers, Bankman-Fried said: "That's something I'm trying to figure out right now."

"Frankly that is a concern for me," he added.

In response to a question about whether he had the lawyers on retainer, Bankman-Fried said: "I can't go into the details."

He voted that there were also "potentially various relevant D&O policies which are being examined as well," referring to directors' and officers' liability insurance, which can cover losses suffered through legal action related to their roles at the company.

Bankman-Fried's father, Joseph Bankman, said in a letter in November to one of the causes meant to be supported by FTX's charitable arm that he would be "spending substantially all of my resources on Sam's defense." Both of his parents are professors at Stanford Law, and helped cultivate Bankman-Fried's utilitarian philosophy.

Both FTX and Alameda Research, the trading firm Bankman-Fried co-founded, have begun Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, alongside dozens of other affiliated companies. Bankman-Fried stepped down from his position as FTX's CEO on November 11.

New CEO John J. Ray III has said that under the previous leadership the company had a "complete failure of corporate controls," pointing out its "inexperienced" execs, poor book-keeping, and untrustworthy financial statements.

When asked by a Good Morning America journalist whether he was worried about going to jail, Bankman-Fried said Monday: "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."

Bankman-Fried's net worth had once peaked at an estimated $26 billion. He had said that he was building up his fortune with the plan to give almost all of it away.