Sam Bankman-Fried is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, born on November 4, 1992, in Stanford, California. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2014, and then went on to pursue a PhD in physics at Harvard University, but left the program to work in finance.
In 2017, Bankman-Fried joined the quant trading firm Jane Street Capital, where he worked on the company’s international ETF trading desk. He left Jane Street in 2019 to start his own company, FTX, which is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that offers futures, options, and other trading products for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others.
Bankman-Fried is also known for his involvement in effective altruism, a philosophy and social movement that advocates using evidence and reason to determine the most effective ways to improve the world. He has made significant donations to various charitable causes, including organizations working on global poverty, animal welfare, and existential risk.
In addition to his work at FTX and his philanthropic efforts, Bankman-Fried is also a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry, and has spoken out on a variety of issues related to the space, including regulatory concerns, the environmental impact of mining, and the future of decentralized finance (DeFi).
As of 2021, Bankman-Fried’s net worth was estimated to be over $10 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in the cryptocurrency industry.