In April 2023, FTX's estate sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a stake that would now be worth approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. The deal, which includes the option for SpaceX to buy Cursor for $60 billion or pay $10 billion if the acquisition does not proceed, marks a significant move by Elon Musk to boost SpaceX's AI capabilities. The sale of the Cursor stake by FTX's estate has sparked controversy, particularly given that the company's valuation has skyrocketed since the investment was made by Alameda Research in 2022.
The incident has also been cited by Sam Bankman-Fried as an example of the estate's mishandling of assets during the bankruptcy process, which he claims destroyed billions of dollars in value. With FTX customers having been repaid in full, the focus has shifted to the potential upside that could have been realized if the estate had held onto its assets, including the lucrative Cursor stake.