FTX's $200,000 Cursor Stake Now Worth $3 Billion After SpaceX Acquisition

In a stunning turn of events, a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor, sold by FTX's bankruptcy estate for $200,000 in April 2023, would now be valued at approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This deal, orchestrated by Elon Musk, aims to bridge the gap with competitors OpenAI and Anthropic in the AI coding tools sector. The acquisition is contingent on SpaceX's planned initial public offering, which targets a $2 trillion valuation, with a $10 billion breakup fee serving as a safeguard.

The crypto connection lies in Alameda Research's $200,000 investment in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022. This investment, equivalent to roughly 5% of the company, was sold by the FTX estate for the same amount a year later, despite the company's valuation soaring to $60 billion. The disparity between the sale price and the current value represents a staggering 15,000% return, which could have been realized by the estate's creditors had the asset not been liquidated. This development adds fuel to the argument made by Sam Bankman-Fried, currently serving a 25-year federal sentence, that the FTX estate's rapid asset liquidation during bankruptcy destroyed billions of dollars in value.

Bankman-Fried has consistently argued that had the estate held onto its assets, customers could have received more than their initial investments, citing a projection that FTX's net asset value could have reached $78 billion. The trajectory of Cursor, which launched its AI coding product in early 2023, is one of the steepest in software startup history, with its valuation skyrocketing in just three years.

While FTX customers have been reimbursed in full, they have not benefited from the significant upside of the assets sold during the bankruptcy process, including the $3 billion forgone from the Cursor stake. This example is likely to be a key point in Bankman-Fried's continued advocacy for a pardon, as his family and supporters argue that the case against him should be reevaluated.