Benzinga - Gabe Bankman-Fried, brother of Sam Bankman-Fried, had plans to purchase the island nation of Nauru using the FTX (CRYPTO: FTT) Foundation.
His vision was to establish a haven where "effective altruists" could survive an apocalypse in comfort and luxury.
This intriguing plan is one of many revelations that have emerged from a series of lawsuits filed by the FTX bankruptcy estate, according to a Fortune report.
The estate is attempting to recover hundreds of millions of FTX dollars following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency empire.
The estate alleged these funds were customer cash that was misappropriated fraudulently.
The most recent claim, filed in a Delaware bankruptcy court on Thursday, is led by FTX CEO John J. Ray III, a former Enron bankruptcy steward.
The estate is pursuing 48 counts related to the fraudulent transfer of funds by former FTX executives, including Bankman-Fried, Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang, Head of Engineering Nishad Singh, and Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison.
The lawsuit includes allegations the executives misused FTX's windfalls, including Bankman-Fried's alleged use of customer funds to finance his own defense.
It also introduced new claims about the company's extravagant spending.
The lawsuit detailed how the executives established a charity, the FTX Foundation, which allegedly served little purpose beyond boosting the public image of the defendants.
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The foundation is accused of receiving grants directly from bank accounts containing customer funds.
The FTX Foundation's projects are described in the lawsuit as "often misguided and occasionally dystopian."
This includes a $30,000 grant to an individual to write a book on determining "humans' utility functions" and a $400,000 grant to an entity that created animated YouTube videos about effective altruism.
This philosophical movement, popular among FTX executives, aims to maximize social impact through charitable giving and other lifestyle choices.
Before the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried was a significant donor to political and social causes, often collaborating with his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, a former Democratic staffer and founder of the advocacy organization Guardian Against Pandemics (GAP).
The lawsuit also mentioned Gabe's island dream.
It cites a memo between Gabe Bankman-Fried and an FTX Foundation officer, where he outlines a plan to buy Nauru, a small island nation in Micronesia.
The objective, as per the memo, was to construct a bunker for use in case "50%-99.99% of people die," ensuring the survival of the most effective altruists.
The plan also included developing "sensible regulation around human genetic enhancement, and building a lab there."
The lawsuit noted the FTX estate was seeking the return of all property involved in the alleged fraudulent transfers, as well as monetary damages, though no specific amount is mentioned.
Gabe Bankman-Fried has not been implicated by prosecutors in any wrongdoing related to the collapse of FTX.
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