In April 2023, FTX's bankruptcy estate sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a valuation that has skyrocketed to approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This substantial increase in value has brought attention to the significant losses incurred by FTX's estate due to the sale of its assets during the bankruptcy process.
SpaceX's decision to acquire Cursor is part of Elon Musk's efforts to enhance his company's AI coding capabilities and close the gap with competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The deal has also sparked controversy surrounding FTX's bankruptcy administration, with founder Sam Bankman-Fried arguing that the estate's rapid liquidation of assets resulted in the destruction of billions of dollars in value. The sale of the Cursor stake has become a prime example of the potential losses incurred by FTX's customers, who have been repaid in dollar terms but have not benefited from the significant upside of the assets sold during the bankruptcy process.