In April 2023, FTX's estate sold a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor for $200,000, a valuation that has since skyrocketed to approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's decision 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 creditors due to the estate's decision to liquidate assets during the bankruptcy process.
The investment, initially made by Alameda Research in April 2022, was sold by the FTX estate for the same amount, resulting in a missed recovery of roughly $3 billion. This incident has sparked debate about the handling of FTX's assets during its bankruptcy and the potential consequences of forced selling. The case has also been cited by Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, as an example of the value destroyed by the estate's actions, with his family advocating for a pardon and revisiting the case against him.