Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (C) arrives to enter his arraignment before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in federal court in Manhattan, New York, on January 3, 2023.
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
The names of two guarantors of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried were released Wednesday after a Manhattan federal judge granted discovery requests by media companies, including CNBC.
Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bail in December after being charged with fraud. There were four sureties in all, including his parents, to ensure Bankman-Fried’s cooperation with pretrial detention requirements.
The other two guarantors are now known to be Larry Kramer, who is president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and dean emeritus of Stanford Law School, and Andreas Pepke, a senior fellow at Stanford University. Their names were withheld, but several media outlets attempted to publicize their identities.
Both Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, are on the faculty at Stanford University. They live near the university.
“Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried have been close friends of my wife and I since the mid-1990s,” Cramer told CNBC’s Iman Javers. “During the last two years, when my family faced a terrible battle with cancer, they were the most faithful friends – bringing food, providing moral support and often stepping in at a moment’s notice to help. In turn, we sought to support them as they faced their own crisis.”
Cramer said he was acting “in his personal capacity” and had “no business relationship or interest in this matter other than to assist our loyal and steadfast friends.”
Kramer posted a $500,000 unsecured bond and Pepke posted the same $250,000 bond.
Pepke, who graduated from Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in computer science from a school in Germany, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The only information provided in the unsealed document were the names of the guarantors and the dates they signed. Their names match those of two individuals associated with Stanford University.
Bankman-Fried’s initial release was secured by both his family home and two bonds. The former crypto-billionaire will return to New York later this week for a hearing before a Manhattan federal judge on his bail conditions and is expected to face federal court in October. He pleaded not guilty in January.
— CNBC’s Eamon Javers contributed to this report.
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