- FTX is suing Sam Bankman-Fried and other former bosses for $1 billion.
- The complaint includes a bizarre anecdote about FTX's non-profit discussing purchasing a country.
FTX wanted to purchase the Pacific island nation of Nauru to build a bunker in case of an apocalyptic event, according to a new lawsuit.
The crypto exchange filed a complaint on Thursday against its founders, including Sam Bankman-Fried, seeking $1 billion that it says was misappropriated by FTX bosses.
As the company dramatically imploded last November, Bankman-Fried handed over the CEO role to John J. Ray III — an attorney who previously handled Enron's bankruptcy, and is now trying to recover funds for FTX customers.
Thursday's complaint alleges that the FTX Foundation — the crypto exchange's non-profit arm which promoted effective altruism — funded projects which "were frequently misguided and sometimes dystopian."
That EA philosophy encourages followers to make more money in order to give it away to those who are less fortunate and prioritizes humanity's survival in the long term.
And that appears to have led to a pretty bizarre plan, according to court documents.
The complaint says that the FTX founder's brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, discussed with an officer for the FTX Foundation a scheme to purchase the country of Nauru.
It's a pretty tiny island with a population of 12,500 located in the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. And because it's so small, it's vulnerable to the effects of climate change like rising sea levels.
But that didn't stop a discussion of purchasing the country in order to build a "bunker/shelter" that would be used for "some event where 50%-99.99% of people die [to] ensure that most [effective altruists] survive," according to a memo cited by the legal complaint.
Nauru also has a reputation for being a tax haven.
And, per the suit, the discussion between Gabe Bankman-Fried and the FTX Foundation officer suggested that they build a lab for "human genetic enhancement."
"Probably there are other things it's useful to do with a sovereign country, too," their memo added according to the lawyers.
A spokesperson for Sam Bankman-Fried did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
Got a tip about how FTX spent its money? Contact this reporter at psyme@insider.com or via Twitter DM at @pwsyme.