Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried ‘paid $5 million in cash for a large analytics firm with a wealth of voter intelligence to help Democratic campaigns’
- The disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly bought a voter analytics company dedicated to supporting Democratic campaigns
- Bankman-Fried paid $5 million from his own funds for analytics start-up Deck in the summer
- The 30-year-old told Deck founder Max Wood he was on a financially stable path and bought out all of the company’s other investors in his acquisition
- With Deck’s acquisition, Bankman-Fried likely gained access to key data and information held by the Democratic National Committee
- His purchase of the company was part of an ongoing move to get more deeply involved in politics
Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has bought a voter analytics company dedicated to supporting Democratic campaigns, according to new reports.
Bankman-Fried paid $5 million from his own funds for analytics start-up Deck in the summer.
The 30-year-old told Deck founder Max Wood that Puck said he was on a financially stable path and bought out all of the company’s other investors when he took over.
The platform offers predictive analytics for political campaigns, with which voters can be provided with targeted information.
News of the acquisition comes days after it was revealed that Bankman-Fried – whose crypto exchange sensationally crashed earlier this month – had injected tens of millions in funding into a number of major media companies.
FTX filed for bankruptcy after reports it owes clients billions of dollars.
Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried bought Deck, a voter analytics firm dedicated to supporting Democratic campaigns, last summer
Bankman-Fried told Deck founder Max Wood (above) that Puck said he was on a financially stable path and bought out all of the firm’s other investors during his acquisition.
In his bankruptcy filing in November, it was revealed that Bankman-Fried alone owned Deck.
His purchase of the company was part of an ongoing move to get more deeply involved in politics.
During the midterm election, he donated about $40 million to largely Democratic campaigns and said he plans to donate about $1 billion by the 2024 election, according to Fox Business.
With Deck’s acquisition, Bankman-Fried likely gained access to important Democratic National Committee data and information, as the service has a contract with the DNC that allows it to be made available free of charge for Democratic campaigns.
Deck provides predictive analytics for political campaigns that can be used to target voters with information
With Deck’s acquisition, Bankman-Fried likely gained access to important Democratic National Committee data and information, as the service has a contract with the DNC allowing it to be made available free of charge for Democratic campaigns
In a February blog post, Wood explained how Deck’s voter data helps Democratic campaigns.
“At Deck, we help progressive campaigns and organizations reach the right voters,” he wrote, “by developing models that predict who a voter will support, how elastic that support might be, how a voter might make their choice Ballots and more.’
“To make those predictions actionable, we then built software that walks users through the process of creating great lists to persuade voters, mobilize supporters and raise campaign funds via a range of outreach tactics.”
It’s unclear how Deck will be affected by the FTX collapse. According to Puck, the company has been trying to distance itself from FTX in the fallout and is looking for new investors.
Bankman-Fried’s purchase of the company was part of an ongoing move to get more deeply involved in politics.
FTX filed for bankruptcy after reports it owes clients billions of dollars
Bankman-Fried is also said to have funded half a dozen liberal media outlets, including ProPublica, Vox and The Intercept.
In a letter to employees, Intercept’s acting editor-in-chief Roger Hodge said that due to FTX’s collapse, the news site is relying on other donors to “step forward” to make up the shortfall.
The letter said the company expected to receive $3.25 million from Bankman-Fried over the next two years, but has suspended all further payments.
The Intercept received $500,000 from the disgraced CEO in September, and another $250,000 was due in December.