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Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman said in a tweet Thursday that the fact that Sam Bankman-Fried was able to post bail of $250 million to get out of jail as he awaits trial on fraud charges suggests that the FTX founder and former CEO may be guilty.
“I instinctually want to believe the best in people,” Ackman wrote. “When coupled with my strong belief that one is innocent until proven guilty, I can be at risk of trusting a crook. @SBF_FTX posting $250m of bail is itself a criminal indictment and refutation of everything he has said to date.”
Ackman apparently saw the headline figure of $250 million bail as a sign that Bankman-Fried, who is also known as SBF, is not as broke has he claimed to be in statements following the collapse of his crypto exchange last month.
Also read: Sam Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bond following first U.S. hearing
But Ackman may have missed the information below the headlines, because Bankman-Fried did not actually fork over $250 million for his bail.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein released Bankman-Fried to the custody of his parents on bail in the form of a personal recognizance bond secured by equity in his parents’ house and by their signatures, as well as the signatures of two other financially responsible people, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Such bail arrangements do not typically require the amount of the collateral to meet the bail amount.
The latest statement from Ackman marks a turn toward more severe criticism of Bankman-Fried.
On Nov. 30, when the FTX founder was interviewed at a New York Times event and said he did not knowingly commit fraud, Ackman tweeted, “Call me crazy, but I think @sbf is telling the truth.”
A few days later, he clarified that statement:
“I was in attendance at the @andrewrsorkin interview of @SBF_FTX and tweeted that I found SBF believable,” Ackman said in a Dec. 3 tweet. “Many have interpreted my tweet to mean that I am defending SBF or somehow supporting him. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“The @FTX_Official fiasco is, at a minimum, the most egregious, large-scale case of business gross negligence that I have observed in my career, and that conclusion is reinforced by SBF’s recent public statements,” Ackman went on to say. “If indeed he is telling the truth, it may make it more likely that he has civil rather than criminal liability. I understand why the victims here want him to suffer the most severe consequences including jail time. I would likely feel the same if I too was a victim.”
