Sam Bankman-Fried explored paying Trump to not run for president, was indicated ‘$5 billion’ as price, book excerpt says

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jail on charges of fraud, had also "planned to give $15 million to $30 million to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell to defeat the ‘Trumpier’ candidates" in the last Senate elections, according to the excerpt of the book - Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon - published in TheWashington Post. "On a separate front, he explained to me, as the plane descended into Washington, he was exploring the legality of paying Donald Trump himself not to run for president," Lewis wrote. "His team had somehow created a back channel into the Trump operation and returned with the not terribly Earth-shattering news that Donald Trump might indeed have his price: $5 billion.

Or so Sam was told by his team." The excerpt did not discuss why Bankman-Fried did not press ahead with the plans. Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! In a separate development, Bankman-Fried is set to go on trial on charges of stealing billions of dollars from customers of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange starting on October 4, nearly a year after the company's collapse shocked markets and tattered his reputation.

Federal prosecutors say the 31-year-old former billionaire embezzled from FTX customers since its founding in 2019 through its November 2022 bankruptcy in order to prop up his hedge fund Alameda Research, buy luxury properties and donate more than $100 million to U.S. political candidates.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. He has acknowledged inadequate risk management, but denied stealing funds.