A 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor, sold by FTX's bankruptcy estate for $200,000 in April 2023, would now be worth approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This development comes as SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, aims to close the gap with competitors in AI coding tools. The deal has brought attention to the crypto aspect, where Alameda Research, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, initially invested $200,000 in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022. The investment, which bought roughly 5% of the company at a $4 million valuation, was sold by the FTX estate for the same amount a year later, resulting in a significant missed recovery opportunity for creditors.
This incident has sparked debate, particularly from Bankman-Fried, who argues that the estate's decision to liquidate assets too quickly destroyed billions in value, and that customers could have received more if the process had been handled differently.