Investors seeking $11B in FTX losses sue MLB, Formula 1 and Mercedes racing team for promoting fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange
Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Naomi Osaka, Trevor Lawrence, Shaquille O'Neal and Shohei Ohtani are included in the class-action suit
Lawsuits seeking to recoup $11 billion in FTX losses are now targeting MLB, Formula 1 and its Mercedes racing team.
Investors who lost money in the fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange added the sports entities to a list of class-action lawsuits targeting FTX executives, celebrities and athletes who promoted the exchange before its downfall.
The lawsuits were filed Monday in a federal court in Miami, per reports by Fortune and Bloomberg. They're the latest in coordinated legal action that has sought damages from Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Naomi Osaka, Trevor Lawrence, Shaquille O'Neal and Shohei Ohtani — among others — for pushing FTX.
Per Bloomberg, the new lawsuit accuses MLB, Formula 1 and the Mercedes racing team of “aiding and abetting and/or actively participating in the FTX Group’s massive, multi-billion-dollar global fraud.”
"MLB and many others were quick to jump into the crypto world with both feet when they saw the potential for fast money," the lawsuit argues.
MLB and Formula 1 representatives didn't immediately return Bloomberg's requests for comment, and a Mercedes F1 spokesman declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
MLB's 2021 deal with FTX "established FTX as the official cryptocurrency exchange brand of MLB." Its promotion included FTX patches on umpire uniforms and a promotional Bitcoin giveaway in tandem with FTX. Mercedes' F1 team promoted FTX with a logo on cars driven by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The MLB and Mercedes racing team promotions were canceled upon FTX's collapse in November 2022.
FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried faces 110 years in prison for fraud
Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and his business partners are also facing civil action. Bankman-Fried was convicted Nov. 2 of seven criminal charges, including wire fraud and money laundering for defrauding FTX investors. He faces up to 110 years in prison.
A jury convicted Bankman-Fried after prosecutors argued that he and his partners deliberately stole $14 billion in customer deposits from the cryptocurrency exchange. He faces another criminal trial for related charges in March.
Athletes flooded internet, airwaves with FTX promotions
Celebrities and athletes widely promoted FTX at the height of the cryptocurrency boom via TV ads, social media and name, image and likeness deals. Lawrence has settled his role in the lawsuit, while others have filed to have their names removed from legal action.
Celebrity endorsers have denied culpability in the fraud, with attorneys calling the lawsuits against their clients "frivolous." Per Bloomberg, court filings have argued that sponsorships didn’t specifically encourage people to deposit money in FTX accounts and that endorsers aren't responsible for “FTX’s misappropriation and mismanagement.”
