- Alameda Research staff tried to order takeout whilst waiting for news about FTX on November 9, 2022.
- When the transaction was declined employees realized: "Holy shit, the company is probably broke."
Alameda Research staff ordered takeout for dinner on the company card as they waited for news about FTX's survival in November 2022 but the transaction was declined — a sign of the company's impending collapse, The New York Post reported Sunday.
Aditya Baradwaj, a former software engineer at FTX's sister company Alameda Research, told The Post about how staffers at Alameda's Hong Kong office found out about the company's troubles on November 9, 2022.
"We ordered our lunch in the afternoon, same as usual," Baradwaj told The Post about what happened on the day. "When we went to order our food in the evening, the app says 'credit card declined.' That's the moment where we realized 'holy shit, the company is probably broke.'"
Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda at the time, held an all-hands meeting a few hours later with the staffers sitting around her, some on beanbags, others listening in via video call.
According to Baradwaj's account, Ellison apologized to staff, told them of plans to wind the company down, and told them "this really sucks."
FTX, Alameda Research, and 130 other affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two days later on November 11. The companies' collapse revealed that its cofounder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had secretly funneled FTX's customer funds to prop up Alameda Research.
Baradwaj told The Post that after the November 9 meeting employees didn't want to speak to Ellison at all despite the fact that she had been a "good boss," and a "kind person," prior to that.
"Caroline even tried to make conversation with someone and she was ignored. No one even wanted to talk to her."
Baradwaj explained that employees were "afraid" because it was international news: "My friends and family were calling me, I'm getting all these calls. I'm sitting in a hotel in Hong Kong and I don't want to get thrown in Chinese jail."
He and his colleagues started booking flights to "escape the country." Baradwaj also resigned from his role the next day, per the Post.
Bankman-Fried has now pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges including fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering and is currently being held in a Brooklyn jail. Ellison has pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges including wire and securities fraud and has agreed to pay restitution.