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. Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured the right to purchase Cursor for $60 billion later this year or pay $10 billion if the full acquisition does not proceed, as part of its efforts to close the gap with competitors in AI coding tools. The deal has been delayed due to SpaceX's planned initial public offering, which targets a $2 trillion valuation. In 2022, Alameda Research invested $200,000 in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, acquiring a 5% stake at a $4 million valuation.
After FTX's collapse, the court-appointed estate sold the stake for the same $200,000, resulting in a missed opportunity for creditors. This oversight has been cited by Sam Bankman-Fried, currently serving a 25-year sentence, as an example of the estate's failure to maximize recovery for creditors.
The gap between the sold price and the current valuation represents a 15,000x return, which could have been realized by the estate if it had held onto the stake. The timing of the sale has raised questions about the FTX bankruptcy administration's handling of assets, with Bankman-Fried arguing that the estate destroyed billions in value by liquidating assets too quickly.
The case of the Cursor stake is likely to feature prominently in ongoing discussions about the estate's management and the potential for a pardon for Bankman-Fried.