The value of a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor, sold by FTX's bankruptcy estate for $200,000 in April 2023, has skyrocketed to approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's recent agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This development has brought attention to the significant gap between the initial sale price and the current valuation, with the latter representing a substantial 15,000% return. The acquisition is part of Elon Musk's strategy to enhance SpaceX's AI coding capabilities and close the gap with competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic.
The deal has also sparked debate about the handling of FTX's assets during its bankruptcy, with founder Sam Bankman-Fried arguing that the estate's rapid liquidation of assets, including the Cursor stake, resulted in the destruction of billions of dollars in value. The timing of the acquisition has raised questions about the bankruptcy administration's decisions, particularly given Bankman-Fried's claims that FTX's net asset value could have reached $78 billion if the estate had held onto its assets instead of selling them in 2023 and 2024.