Stanford returns $5.5 million worth of FTX donation

Author: James Cirrone, Blockworks; Compiler: Songxue, Golden Finance

On Tuesday, Stanford University was found to be entangled with FTX funds after FTX debtors sued the parents of Sam-Bankman-Fried.

Stanford University received more than $5.5 million in donations from the FTX Group, which it said were donated directly to the University of California by SBF's father, Joe Bankman, a longtime Stanford faculty member.

A Stanford spokesman acknowledged the donations and promised to return the money to debtors.

“The gifts that Stanford University has received from the FTX Foundation and FTX-related companies are mainly used for epidemic-related prevention and research. We have been in discussions with the lawyers of the FTX debtors to recover these gifts, and we will return the funds in full, ” the spokesperson wrote.

Bankman is a tax attorney who served as senior advisor to the FTX Foundation, the former charitable arm of the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange.

According to Tuesday's lawsuit, Bankman's job pays a salary of $200,000 and may include "discretionary bonuses."

The lawsuit alleges that Bankman "led the way" in providing $5.5 million in funding to Stanford between November 2021 and May 2022.

It also details his multiple attempts to funnel funds from FTX and Alameda to Stanford University.

"Bankman owes a fiduciary duty to FTX Trading, Alameda, Alameda Ltd. and FTX US and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates," the debtors wrote.

They continued, “Bankman’s repeated efforts to divert FTX Group funds to Stanford University constitute a flagrant violation of these responsibilities, as they effectively enrich Bankman’s employer (Stanford University) at the expense of FTX Group .”