Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried denies ‘improper use’ of client funds in ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Sam Bankman-Fried, the company’s embattled former CEO cryptocurrency giant FTX and trading firm Alameda Research, told ABC News that he was ultimately responsible for the collapse of both companies, but denied knowing “that there was an improper use of client funds.”

“I really, really wish I took a lot more responsibility for understanding the details of what’s going on,” he said. “I should have been on top of this and I feel very, very bad and I regret that I wasn’t,” he said. “A lot of people got hurt. And it’s on me.”

Bankman-Fried spoke with George Stephanopoulos and ABC News for his first network interview since both companies in his cryptocurrency empire filed for bankruptcy this month. He addressed the rumors that have been circulating since the crash and discussed his uncertain way forward. The interview took place on the island of Nassau in the Bahamas, where FTX was headquartered.

Watch George Stephanopoulos’ full interview with Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday’s Good Morning America

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November after a rival cryptocurrency exchange announced it was abandoning a plan to acquire it. The filing follows reports that FTX used deposits to pay off Alameda Research’s creditors, a claim reportedly made by former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison during a call in early November. Bankman-Fried said he didn’t know that was true, but said Alameda had a large position open in FTX that was “over-collateralized a year ago.” He also partly blamed the market crash, which “slightly threatened that position,” as well as mismanagement.

Ellison did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

“I couldn’t find anyone who managed that risk, managed that position, managed that account. I didn’t have proper oversight,” which led to FTX’s collapse, Bankman-Fried said.

In the interview, Bankman-Fried also denied witnessing illegal drug use by FTX employees and said reports that he and Allison were in a polyamorous relationship were false and that his romantic relationship with Allison lasted only six months. “When I was here, I lived with a lot of monogamous couples, some of whom got married while I was here. I am not aware of any polyamorous relationships in FTX.’

Bankman-Fried, 30, said he currently only owns one ATM card and has $100,000 in his bank account, a far cry from the $20 billion net worth that brought him into the spotlight. He ultimately blamed the collapse of FTX on his own struggles with risk management.

“There is something, perhaps even very wrong, that I have not even tried. Like, I didn’t spend any time or effort trying to manage risk on FTX, and that was obviously a mistake,” he said. “If I spent an hour a day thinking about risk management on FTX, I don’t think that would have happened. And I don’t feel good about it.”

Bankman-Fried said today that he is focused on working through the regulatory and legal processes and “trying to focus on what I can do in the future to be useful.” In the future, he said, he hopes to be able to say that he “made amends to everyone who was hurt.”

He added: “At the end of the day, it’s none of my business. And the world will judge me as it will.”