FTX cofounders' Robinhood shares worth over $450 million seized

BusinessJanuary 9, 2023, 8:46AM EST
UPDATED: January 9, 2023, 8:48AM EST
FTX cofounders' Robinhood shares worth over $450 million seized

Quick Take

  • More than 55 million shares of Robinhood stock owned by FTX co-founders Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang have been seized by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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The U.S. Department of Justice seized more than $456 million in Robinhood shares owned by FTX co-founders Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang.

A court filing dated Jan. 6 says the shares were seized because they constitute property involved in money laundering or wire fraud violations. 

A lawyer for the Justice Department last week said that the it was seizing hundreds of millions of dollars in Robinhood shares linked to FTX. Bankman-Fried responded by filing a court action to block debtors from taking control of his stake in Robinhood.

The disgraced former CEO owns 90% of Emergent Fidelity Technologies, an entity that owns more than 50 million shares in Robinhood stock. Bankman-Fried stepped down as FTX CEO when the firm filed for bankruptcy protection in November.