- Sam Bankman-Fried hasn't been in contact with his former FTX circle, per a new interview in Puck.
- "Most of the people who I was friends with are not talking to me," he told the reporter.
Sam Bankman-Fried hasn't spoken to the once-close associates he lived with in the Bahamas when he ran FTX.
The former FTX CEO, who is under house arrest at his parents' Palo Alto home (which helped secure his release on a $250 million bond), described a lonely daily routine in an during an in-person interview with a reporter from Puck News.
Shunned by friends, and kept at a distance by FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, who is guiding what's left of the crypto exchange through bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried told Puck that he plays video games alone for fear of being identified online, and that he hasn't talked to Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of his other company Alameda Research and ex-girlfriend, or FTX co-founder Gary Wang.
He described essentially being cut out by the circle of former coworkers who not that long ago were part of a tight-knit group.
"I don't blame people for wanting to try and avoid getting drawn into the shitshow as best they can," he told Teddy Schleifer of Puck.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty this month to 8 counts of fraud and conspiracy charges, and is awaiting trial tentatively scheduled for October.
The criminal case playing out against him is in its early stages, where federal prosecutors in New York are beginning to share the evidence they've gathered so far with his lawyers, a customary and legally required step ahead of trial.
Bankman-Fried, who is facing life in prison if he's convicted, can potentially negotiate a plea deal at any time before trial. Ellison and Wang's own plea deals last month could help minimize or avert any jail time they face for their own charges over their alleged role in supporting Bankman-Fried's scheme.
Bankman-Fried has had a few other visitors while under house arrest, including the author Michael Lewis, who is reportedly working on a project about FTX.