Last Updated on December 8, 2022 by Bitfinsider
The now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX was in the final stages of negotiating a sponsorship deal with Taylor Swift that was expected to be worth more than $100 million. FTX was known for its numerous high-profile cooperation agreements with celebrities and sports figures.
The failed proposal apparently involved a ticketing structure with digital certificates in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a Financial Times report quoting persons familiar with the situation.
Swift herself, according to a person familiar with the conversations, never considered agreeing to promote the exchange, according to one former FTX employee who reportedly claimed that the exchange had asked for a “mild degree” of sponsorship from Swift on social media.
Aside from sponsorship deals with specific celebrities, FTX also spent hundreds of millions of dollars on prominent advertising campaigns, inking agreements with the NHL’s Washington Wizards and Capitals, the NBA’s Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors, Major League Baseball, and esports powerhouse TSM.
Not all were agreeable with the deal
The talks, which started in the fall of 2021, ended this spring, perhaps to the relief of FTX’s more seasoned senior executives who had been at odds with Bankman-Fried and his inner circle as they supported the sale.
“No one really liked the deal. It was too expensive from the beginning,” a person with knowledge of the situation told the Financial Times.
Some FTX marketing team members, as well as FTX.US president Brett Harrison and FTX.US general counsel Ryne Miller, a former partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, reportedly opposed the sale and asked Bankman-Fried to end the negotiations.
Swift, who recently made history by being the first female artist to ever spend 60 straight weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 list, was also reportedly questioned by others as to whether or not she would indeed benefit the FTX user base.
The SEC and DOJ are looking into Bankman-Fried, who left her position as CEO of FTX on the same day that the exchange and its connected businesses filed for bankruptcy. He is currently not facing any charges.
Bankman-Fried recently stated in an interview that he only had $100,000 left of his former fortune, which was once valued at $26 billion.
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