Benzinga -
- Semafor is in the early stages of working out how to raise the money to repurchase Sam Bankman-Fried's position in the media startup, founded by former Bloomberg and New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) executives.
- FTX (FTT/USD) cryptocurrency exchange founder Bankman-Fried contributed more than a third of the $25 million in initial funding for the venture launched by Justin Smith, the former Bloomberg Media chief executive, and Ben Smith, the ex-New York Times columnist.
- Citing Smith, Financial Times reported that the structure of Semafor's pre-seed funding round gave Bankman-Fried "no actual shares." If Bankman-Fried's interest was converted to equity, he would have been entitled to a single-digit minority stake, despite being the largest outside investor.
- Also Read: Once Reluctant, Scaramucci Alleges FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried 'Committed Fraud'
- The report cited Justin Smith saying, "We are planning to repurchase Sam Bankman-Fried's interest in Semafor and to place the money into a separate account until the relevant legal authorities provide guidance as to where the money should be returned."
- It is unclear how Semafor's legal agreements define Bankman-Fried's "interest."
- P{hoto Via Wikimedia Commons
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