The bankruptcy estate of FTX sold its 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000 in April 2023, a stake that would now be worth approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This acquisition is part of Elon Musk's strategy to bridge the gap with competitors in AI coding tools. The deal has brought attention to the significant value that could have been realized by FTX's creditors if the stake had not been sold at a much lower valuation.
The sale of the stake for $200,000, the same amount Alameda Research invested in the company, means that the buyer of the stake from the bankruptcy estate has realized a substantial return, rather than the creditors. This development supports the argument made by Sam Bankman-Fried, currently serving a federal sentence, that the FTX estate's liquidation of assets too quickly during the bankruptcy destroyed billions in potential value for customers. The trajectory of Cursor's valuation, from its launch in early 2023 to its current valuation, is one of the steepest in software startup history, underscoring the potential upside that FTX customers missed out on due to the sale of the stake.