The recent agreement between SpaceX and Cursor has shed light on a substantial missed recovery for FTX's estate, which sold its 5% stake in the AI coding startup for $200,000 in April 2023. Today, that stake would be worth approximately $3 billion, following SpaceX's decision to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This deal is part of Elon Musk's efforts to bridge the gap with competitors in the AI coding tools sector. The acquisition is pending, with SpaceX having the option to purchase Cursor later this year for $60 billion or pay $10 billion if the full acquisition does not proceed.
The crypto aspect of this transaction lies in Alameda Research's initial investment of $200,000 in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022. This investment secured roughly 5% of the company at a $4 million valuation. However, after FTX's collapse, the court-appointed estate sold the Cursor stake for the same $200,000, resulting in a significant loss for creditors. The timing of this sale has sparked controversy, particularly given Sam Bankman-Fried's arguments that the estate's rapid liquidation of assets destroyed billions in value.
Bankman-Fried has suggested that FTX's net asset value could have reached $78 billion if the estate had held onto assets instead of selling them during the bankruptcy. The substantial increase in Cursor's valuation from its launch in 2023 to its current value is among the steepest in software startup history. While FTX customers have been repaid in full, they did not benefit from the upside of the assets sold during the bankruptcy, including the significant increase in value of the Cursor stake.