Bankman-Fried began his career as a trader at Jane Street Capital, which he left in 2017 to strike out on his own, starting a cryptocurrency hedge fund called Alameda Research.
The firm’s first office was a two-bedroom Airbnb in North Berkeley, California.
His entrepreneurial drive didn’t stop there: In 2019, Bankman-Fried co-founded cryptocurrency exchange FTX and became its CEO.
Bankman-Fried moved the headquarters of both companies to the Bahamas and installed himself and several team members in a $35 million penthouse.
Sam Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, studied math and physics at MIT.
His parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, are both tenured Stanford law professors. Joe Bankman specializes in tax law, while Barbara Fried is an expert in legal ethics.
