Sam Bankman-Fried has come under fire from former FTX US President Brett Harrison for intimidating and manipulating coworkers who suggested changes to the organization’s management structure. Harrison claimed that Bankman-Fried threatened to terminate him immediately and ruin his name if he persisted in confronting the former FTX CEO.
1/49 Many have asked questions about my time at FTX US and why I left when I did. As I indicated earlier this week, I’m happy to begin sharing my experiences and perspective publicly.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023
On December 14, Harrison spoke with Bankman-Fried and FTX US about his experiences. He described how he was hired “casually through a text” in March 2021 after they had collaborated at the trading business Jane Street in New York.
6/49 Sam asked me to join FTX US casually over text in late March 2021. He was my former colleague at Jane Street and I had fond memories of his presence there.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023
Where did they cross lines?
However, he said that six months into Harrison’s employment at FTX US, “cracks began to emerge” between the two.
At first, Harrison remembered Bankman-Fried as a “sensitive and intellectually curious person.” Still, when conflict arose, he saw “total insecurity and intransigence” in Bankman-Fried, especially after Harrison suggested that FTX US establish separate branches for its executive, developer, and legal teams.
16/49 I saw in that early conflict his total insecurity and intransigence when his decisions were questioned, his spitefulness, and the volatility of his temperament. I realized he wasn’t who I remembered.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023
Harrison said that while he “wasn’t sure what accounted for the sudden change” in Bankman-erratic Fried’s conduct, mental health concerns may have been a “contributing element.”
Harrison: “Sam went overboard a bit.”
When Harrison and other coworkers attempted to fix the corporate problem at FTX US, Bankman-Fried utilized several gaslighting and manipulative techniques against them as part of the illogical conduct Harrison recounts.
Harrison stated that Bankman-Fried threatened to “destroy my professional reputation” if a formal apology wasn’t issued during his last attempt to resolve the organizational problems at FTX US.
Harrison claimed that the incident “solidified” his choice to go.
Harrison said that the firm’s alleged commingling and manipulation of billions of dollars in client assets rendered him ignorant to the fraud allegations now made against Bankman-Fried and other FTX associates:
“I never could have predicted that behind these types of problems—which I’d encountered at other, more established organizations in my career and thought weren’t critical to commercial success—was multi-billion-dollar fraud. If even one of us had known the truth,” he said, “we would have reported them right away.”
After providing a $250 million bond guarantee and rejecting all eight allegations brought against him on January 3, Bankman-Fried was given bail.
About five weeks before FTX’s disastrous collapse which shed mud on the whole crypto community, Harrison announced his resignation as president of FTX US on September 27 and said he would transition into an advising position.
