FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Speaks Out: 'I Screwed Up'

POSTPONE A FUNERAL UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. BACK TO YOU. >> ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH MORGAN. MEANWHILE WE’RE LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE STUNNING COLLAPSE OF CRYPTO GIANT FTX. ONCE VALUED AT 32 BILLION. RIGHT NOW EFFECTIVELY WORTHLESS. IN BANKRUPTCY. LEAVING CREDITORS WONDERED IF THEY WILL SEE THEIR MONEY AGAIN. >> SAM BANKMAN-FRIED THE MAN BEHIND THE COMPANY TALKED TO NBC YESTERDAY, AND THE FIRST EXTENDED ONCAMERA LIVE INTERVIEW, AND HE APPEARED TO EX TRESS PRESS CONTRITION OVER WHAT’S HAPPENED. >> LOOK, I AM THE CEO, I HAD A RESPONSIBILITY. THAT MEANS THAT I WAS RESPONSIBLE ULTIMATELY. AND I MEAN

I DIDN’T, LIKE WE MESSED UP BIG. >> WOW, ANDREW JOINS US NOW, THAT WAS KIND OF A BIG CONFESSION, THIS COMPANY WORTH 32 BILLION AND NOW HE HAS LIKE 100,000 DOLLARS ON A CREDIT CARD OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IS WHAT HE IS SAYING LIKE I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WENT WRONG? IS THAT PLAUSIBLE? >> I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ASKING THAT QUESTION THIS MORNING, AND WHETHER HIS ANSWERS WERE TRUTHFUL. WHAT APPEARS TO HAVE HAPPENED IS HE WAS RUNNING THE EQUIVALENT OF A STOCK EXCHANGE, TAKING PEOPLE’S MONEY, THAT THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE INVESTING IN

CRYPTOCURRENCY, HE WAS ALSO RUNNING ANOTHER HEDGE FUND, HIS OWN INVESTMENT FIRM, INVESTING IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND HE WAS QUOTE-UNQUOTE LOANING MONEY FROM THOSE PEOPLE TO HIMSELF, AND THEN GAMBLING WITH THAT

MONEY. SOME PEOPLE CALL THAT STEALING. HE SAYS THAT HE DIDN’T INTEND TO DO THAT AND HE DIDN’T REALIZE WHAT WAS HAPPENING BUT OF COURSE, AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, LOTS OF PEOPLE ASKING LOTS OF QUESTIONS. >> YES. NO KIDDING. >> THAT WAS THE BEST SUMMARY I’VE HEARD SO FAR. >> YES. >> INTERESTING, I’M WATCHING THIS INTERVIEW YESTERDAY AND I’M THINKING WHY IN THE WORLD IS THIS GUY

TALKING TO AN TRUE? >> THERE IS NO REASON, AND I WOULD ASSUME HIS LAWYERS WOULDN’T THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA. THIS IS PART OF WHAT ELSE HE SAID FROM THE BAHAMAS. >> I CAN DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO TRY AND DO WHAT’S RIGHT, IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO TRY AND HELP CUSTOMERS OUT HERE, AND I DON’T SEE WHAT GOOD IS ACCOMPLISHED BY ME JUST SITTING LOCKED, YOU KNOW, IN A ROOM, PRETENDING THE OUTSIDE WORLD DOESN’T EXIST. >> CRIMINAL LIABILITY, WHAT’S THE POTENTIAL FOR THAT HERE? >> I THINK IT IS VERY REAL.

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INVESTIGATING. HE IS LIVING IN THE BAHAMAS. THAT’S WHERE HE INCORPORATED THE COMPANY, TO LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES. BY THE WAY, HIS PARENTS, LAW PROFESSORS AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY. AND HE SAID SPECIFICALLY THIS IS AGAINST THE ADVICE OF HIS LAWYERS TO CONDUCT AND PARTICIPATE OF COURSE IN THIS INTERVIEW. >> ONE LAST QUESTION. THERE ARE REGULAR EVERY DAY PEOPLE WHO INVESTED IN, THIS AND THEY TRUSTED, AND SOME PUT THEIR LIFE SAVINGS INTO, IT IS THERE ANY SHOCK THAT THOSE PEOPLE WILL GET ANY RETURN, ANY MONEY BACK. >> THERE IS

SOMETHING CALLED FTX.U.S., THE U.S. BRANCH OF THIS, AND THERE IS POBLD SOME MONEY THERE, SO FOR SOME AMERICANS WHO INVESTED THROUGH THAT EXCHANGE, THERE MIGHT BE SOME POSSIBILITY OF GETTING MONEY BACK. BUT I RECEIVED EMAILS AND LETTERS AND NOTES FROM PEOPLE WHO SAID THEY LOST THEIR LIFE SAVINGS. >> WOW, TERRIBLE.