Former Alameda co-CEO Sam Trabucco to forfeit $70 million and a yacht in proposed settlement with FTX bankruptcy estate

Former Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco will hand over two San Francisco apartments worth $8.7 million and a 53-foot yacht while also agreeing to forfeit $70 million worth of claims he lodged against FTX.

That turnover is part of a proposed settlement between bankrupt FTX, FTX Digital Markets and Trabucco filed on Monday.

"Following constructive, arm’s length negotiations, the Debtors, FTX DM and Trabucco have reached an agreement that delivers significant value for the Debtors’ and FTX DM’s stakeholders without the delay and cost of litigation," according to the settlement document.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried founded both FTX and crypto trading firm Alameda Research. The latter was once led as well by former co-CEO Caroline Ellison, and was revealed to have closer than realized ties to FTX. Trabucco resigned in August 2022, months before the collapse of FTX and subsequently Alameda. When Trabucco announced his resignation, he posted that he had bought a boat.

"I hope he has a great time on his boat!" said Ellison at the time.

Later in June 2023, Trabucco filed $70 million worth of proofs of claim against FTX, Alameda Research and other entities, according to the filing on Monday.

"Trabucco will transfer to the Debtors all rights and interests represented in and asserted through his claims filed against the Debtors, including with respect to his customer claims totaling approximately $70 million, and all of his claims against the Debtors will be disallowed and expunged," according to the filing.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved FTX's reorganization plan in October to start distributing funds to customers — two years after its collapse. Under that plan, 98% of creditors will receive at least 118% of their claim value in cash.

About 94% of creditors in the “dotcom customer entitlement claims” class who returned their ballots — representing about $6.83 billion in claims by value — voted in favor of the reorganization plan, according to previous The Block reporting. The plan received criticism over how the estate planned to distribute funds in dollars rather than in cryptocurrencies.