Insiders: FTX former executives' charity foundation made millions by selling FTT

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing informed sources, former FTX executive Ruairi Donnelly helped operate a charitable foundation during his time at FTX, which aimed to promote effective altruism and research in artificial intelligence. FTX granted Ruairi Donnelly the right to purchase FTT at 5 cents before the launch of FTT. Ruairi Donnelly's lawyer stated that Ruairi Donnelly converted $562,000 of his salary into FTT at that time, equivalent to 11.2 million FTT. According to the foundation's financial statements, FTX subsequently granted these tokens to a Swiss charity Polaris Ventures, which he co-founded with others, at Ruairi Donnelly's request.

According to informed sources and the foundation's financial statements, the foundation began publicly trading at $1 in 2019 and 2020, earning millions of dollars by selling FTT. Ruairi Donnelly's lawyer Jason PW Halperin stated that the FTT received by Polaris was unpaid wages of his client and did not belong to the exchange. Polaris currently has approximately $150 million in assets, with about $30 million frozen on FTX. Informed sources indicate that Ruairi Donnelly is seeking to sell Polaris's trading account on FTX to exit his position on FTX.