In April 2023, FTX's bankruptcy estate sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a valuation that would now be approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's acquisition deal at a $60 billion valuation. Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured the right to purchase Cursor later this year for $60 billion or pay a $10 billion breakup fee if the acquisition does not proceed, aiming to bridge the gap with competitors in AI coding tools.
The crypto connection lies in Alameda Research's $200,000 investment in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022, which gave them a 5% stake at a $4 million valuation. After FTX's collapse, the estate sold the stake for the same $200,000, resulting in a missed recovery of roughly $3 billion. This significant gap has raised questions about the timing and handling of FTX's bankruptcy administration, particularly given founder Sam Bankman-Fried's arguments that the estate destroyed billions in value by liquidating assets too quickly. The Cursor stake's trajectory, from its launch in early 2023 to its current valuation, is among the steepest in software startup history, with FTX customers missing out on the upside from the assets' growth between the bankruptcy filing and now.