Tom Brady was paid $55 million for doing about a week’s worth of work total over a three-year period by disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a bestselling author.
Michael Lewis, who wrote “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon,” told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that the former FTX head Bankman-Fried, whose federal trial on fraud and money laundering charges is set to begin in Manhattan on Tuesday, splurged on endorsements from Brady, Stephen Curry, and Larry David.
Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty, oversaw a $32 billion empire that collapsed after his firm allegedly used customer deposits to cover risky bets by his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
“He paid Tom Brady $55 million for 20 hours a year for three years,” Lewis, who shadowed Bankman-Fried for those fateful months during which his company went bankrupt and he was arrested and indicted, told CBS.
Lewis said that Brady reacted initially with “sadness” after learning of Bankman-Fried’s fall from grace.
“[Brady] really liked him and he really liked the hope that he brought,” Lewis said, adding that the Super Bowl winner was “crushed.”
“As time has gone by and he’s ceased to get a really good explanation about what’s happened, I think [Brady] is just like, ‘He tricked me. I’m angry. I don’t want to have anything to do with it anymore’,” according to Lewis.
Curry, the Golden State Warriors basketball superstar, was paid $35 million for doing the same amount of work, according to Lewis.
The author also noted that Bankman-Fried paid actor-comedian Larry David $10 million to appear in a Super Bowl commercial for FTX — on top of the $25 million sum that it cost to produce the ad, which happened to include a cameo by Bankman-Fried’s father, Joseph Bankman.
Lewis said he learned of the sums that were paid to celebrities while poring over internal company documents.
“It’s breathtaking, what’s on that list,” Lewis told CBS.
The Post has sought comment from Brady, Curry, and David. Bankman-Fried declined to respond.
David, Brady, his supermodel ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, Curry, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and retired NBA star Shaquille O’Neal are among celebrity endorsers who have been named in class action lawsuits filed by investors seeking repayment.
Lewis said that Brady genuinely “adored” Bankman-Fried.
“I think Tom Brady thought he was a really interesting person,” according to the author. “[Brady] liked to hear what he had to say.”
“And [Bankman-Fried] really liked Tom Brady,” Lewis said, adding that Bankman-Fried “wasn’t like a really big sports person.”
“It was funny to watch that interaction,” Lewis said of the Brady-Bankman-Fried relationship.
“These two people actually get along,” Lewis said, adding: “It’s like the class nerd and the quarterback.”
“The quarterback somehow like him, and he somehow likes the quarterback.”
Lewis referred to Bankman-Fried as “the nerd of all nerds.”
“Even the nerds don’t hang out with this nerd, he’s such a nerd,” the author said.
Since the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried has “become toxic,” according to Lewis.
“Nobody wants to talk to him,” the author told CBS. “He has no friends.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
