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 acquisition agreement at a $60 billion valuation. This development comes as SpaceX plans to acquire Cursor later this year, with the option to pay $10 billion if the full acquisition does not proceed, citing its planned initial public offering targeting a $2 trillion valuation. The deal marks Elon Musk's effort to close the gap with competitors in AI coding tools.
The crypto aspect lies in Alameda Research's $200,000 investment in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022, which bought roughly 5% of the company at a $4 million valuation. After FTX's collapse, the court-appointed estate sold the Cursor stake for the same $200,000, resulting in a significant loss for creditors.
This incident supports Sam Bankman-Fried's argument that FTX's estate destroyed billions in value by liquidating assets too quickly during the bankruptcy. The timing of the SpaceX deal has awkward implications for FTX's bankruptcy administration, as it underscores the potential value that could have been realized if the estate had held onto its assets.
The Cursor stake's valuation increase represents a 15,000x return, which was instead realized by the buyer from the bankruptcy rather than the creditors. This example is likely to feature prominently in Bankman-Fried's claims that the estate destroyed significant value through forced selling, and may be cited in his ongoing campaign for a pardon.