In April 2023, FTX's estate sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a investment that would now be valued at approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured the option to purchase Cursor for $60 billion later this year or pay $10 billion if the acquisition does not proceed, a move aimed at closing the gap with competitors in the AI coding tools space. The crypto connection lies in Alameda Research's $200,000 investment in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, which was made in April 2022 and bought roughly 5% of the company at a $4 million valuation. After FTX's collapse, the court-appointed estate sold the stake for the same $200,000, resulting in a significant missed recovery opportunity for creditors.
This gap has sparked debate, with Sam Bankman-Fried arguing that FTX's estate destroyed billions in value by liquidating assets too quickly during the bankruptcy. The timing of the SpaceX deal has awkward implications for FTX's bankruptcy administration, as it highlights the potential value that could have been realized if the estate had held onto its assets. While FTX customers have been repaid in dollar terms under the bankruptcy's distribution plan, they did not receive the upside from the assets' subsequent growth in value, including the substantial increase in the value of the Cursor stake.