The New York Times' bizarre SBF profile presents the disgraced founder through a gauzy lens, fails to challenge him, and gives him the benefit of the doubt

FTX filed for bankruptcy on Friday, leaving reasonable people to wonder how a cryptocurrency platform founded in 2019 …

Gizmodo 2022-11-15 Matt Novak

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@ercwl Bearica Wall on x
OK SO IT ACTUALLY WORKED LMAO THAT'S WHAT HE'S DOING https://twitter.com/...
@krugermacro Alex Krüger on x
Disgraceful reporting by the @nytimes on FTX. It portrays SBF as a charitable entrepreneur who went under and does not mention the words fraud, criminal, substance abuse, friends & family Bahamas KYC racket, hack, stolen funds or wiped servers anywhere. https://archive.ph/mxOh5
@trungtphan Trung Phan on x
Word count NYT's puff piece on SBF: “Fraud”: 0 “Enron”: 0 “Crime”: 0 “Illiquid”: 0 “Stolen”: 0 “Hidden”: 0 “Criminal”: 0 “Back door”: 0 “He's getting sleep”: 1 https://twitter.com/...
@statelayer @statelayer on x
Holy shit so Caroline said Alameda used funds loaned to them for making venture investments and then they used FTX customer money to repay the loans when they got recalled in the crypto crash this year
@fintechfrank Frank Chaparro on x
What the actual hell https://twitter.com/...
@219_eth @219_eth on x
Just stating the facts of the SBF case makes you sound like Alex Jones
@dominic2306 Dominic Cummings on x
we need a mass blocker like this for the Guardian too, another massive source of constant lies https://twitter.com/...
@dominic2306 Dominic Cummings on x
New York Times coverage of SBF/FTX a great example of how mainstream old media like NYT is the most dangerous source of misinformation. Total dishonesty normal from the newspaper that covered up Stalin's forced famine on Ukraine in 1930s
@0xsisyphus @0xsisyphus on x
SBF mentions a video game in the NYT piece, called “Storybook Brawl” It turns out FTX actually owns this game, he used the article as a promoted ad basically
@austen Austen Allred on x
Compare the New York Times treatment of: 1. Coinbase having layoffs. 2. FTX defrauding customers, going bankrupt, and disappearing ~$10 Billion of other peoples' money. https://twitter.com/...
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
The great @yaffebellany talked to SBF last night. He's sleeping fine! https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mrjasonchoi Jason Choi on x
.@SBF_FTX gets longtime collaborator @yaffebellany to write a puff piece for him to salvage his public image as he deletes incriminating tweets Nice journalism @nytimes
@cgasparino Charles Gasparino on x
As I reported he would after the @binance rejection premised on telling people that it could avoid a crypto “Lehman Moment.” Probably wont work — FTX founder still thinks that he can raise enough money to make users whole https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
@dystopiabreaker @dystopiabreaker on x
alexey pertsev sits in jail without charge for publishing privacy preserving cryptography while SBF sits in his $40M mansion, bought with stolen customer deposits, taunting us on twitter and having NYT puff pieces published about him
@adamsinger Adam Singer on x
SBF is another quintessential ex of the man-child, enabled at modern, global financial scale & speed. Sociopathic greed w/o thought for lives ruined or societal implications, abused drugs in order to fuel excessive lifestyle & punt on personal ethical questions. Yet, cheered on..
@statelayer @statelayer on x
https://twitter.com/...
@pt Parker on x
Apparently contrarian take: I was not offended by the NYT SBF profile. I am happy to hear them tell me what is happening and decide for myself who is evil. I actively prefer that they not decide for me.
@mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x
did sbf do magic as a kid, the entire “hypothetically confess to a ponzi scheme while operating something that may have, at the time, been such a scheme and thus convince people you're not doing a ponzi scheme” has a certain slight of hand quality
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
It's wild that if you steal $10 from a store, you'd be in handcuffs that night. If you steal $10b and your co-conspirator admits it, you get to just tweet random shit and whitewash it in the media while the police have to “explore if there was any criminal wrong doing”
@arthur_0x Arthur on x
SBF not arrested after admiting to violating FTX's terms of services by absconding users' fund for various other purpose and still can play fucking stupid game he invested in? Meanwhile many people lost their life savings over his crime. Clown world 🤡
@icebergy_ @icebergy_ on x
sbf just living his best life gaming, tweeting mysterious threads for engagement, doing stims, and getting interviewed by the NYT after some people lost every dollar they had
@dandarkpill Dan Darkpill on x
It's now known SBF is a pathological lying fraud. @nytimes @yaffebellany response is to interview him, barely acknowledge his crimes and distribute his narrative (ambition, wealth, bad management, philanthropy, rivalry). This is not journalism, it's PR. https://archive.ph/2Zxkh
@cj_johnson17th WealthSquad Chris on x
The media is way softer on Sam Bankman - Fried than they were on Kyrie Irving SBF scammed for BILLIONS and they said his “empire collapsed” and just 10 days ago they had you thinking Kyrie was Hitlers protégé https://twitter.com/...
@ericlarch Eric Larchevêque on x
I'm shocked an appalled by the flattering and complacent article about @SBF_FTX in the @nytimes. There is no doubt on the fact that this guy misused (stole) BILLIONS of customer funds to cover his losses, yet all seems fine, remorse accepted and no harsh line of questioning. WTF?…
@coloradotravis @coloradotravis on x
Okay look let's try and make sense of Caroline's story here, and tie it back to some other stuff like “where's the money” and also a bunch of long running theories. To be clear: I'm guessing here, but frankly I been real good at guessing in this arena so let's have a go. 1/ https…
@jespow Jesse Powell on x
The MSM needs to take accountability for its role in contributing to the legitimization and high status of this insolvent ponzi. Without the media's backing and the endless puff pieces, victims would not have been so trusting with their savings. Even now, they downplay the story.…
@zerohedge @zerohedge on x
Massive 2200-word article on SBF in the NYT. Mentions of donations to democrats = 0 https://www.nytimes.com/...
@migueldeicaza Miguel de Icaza on x
Thread: to hide their tracks, people that promoted the FTX (like Tom Brady and Gisele) are deleting incriminating tweets in coordination with Sam to avoid detection. The archive so far is linked in the thread. https://twitter.com/...
@lomahcrypto Loma on x
Your honor, my client was under the impression that if he deletes the tweet, he simply never said it. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
I agree that there should be a deeper examination into the treatment of SBF and FTX — by the media, investors, and industry supporters — but I don't agree with the premise that there is a dichotomy in how certain crypto companies are critically covered here. https://twitter.com/.…
@balajis Balaji on x
The New York Times is covering up Sam Bankman-Fried's crimes. Nothing SBF says can be trusted. Nothing NYT says can be trusted either. But dunking does nothing. Lies make their traffic rise. You do have one option, though. Mass block them all in one go. https://www.blocknyt.com/
@amasad Amjad Masad on x
SBF, by the establishment for the establishment. https://twitter.com/...
@johnedeaton1 John E Deaton on x
Truly a disgrace considering the past reporting on @brian_armstrong or @jespow. https://twitter.com/...
@coffeebreak_yt @coffeebreak_yt on x
WHEN YOU GET AN EXCLUSIVE WITH THE MOST WANTED MAN IN THE WORLD BUT YOU ASK HIM ABOUT HIS SLEEP. 🫠 https://twitter.com/...
@dadadadaffy @dadadadaffy on x
Practically disinformation from NYT presenting this as a business mistake. They buried the lede into one of the last paragraphs where they mention the use of customer funds and don't even say it was prohibited and fraudulent. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@hsakatrades @hsakatrades on x
The Bank Man reading his name in MSM coverage right now. Need edit with the following in the credits: FTX/Alameda staff VCs who built their careers by chortling Sams gonads Journos (mainstream and crypto native) that put him on his pedestal https://twitter.com/...
@seyitaylor @seyitaylor on x
the NYT interviewed SBF and was legit like: “Are you ok bb? Are you sleeping alright?” Smh.
@brucefenton @brucefenton on x
NYT reporter writes gushing piece about SBF with no mention of the stolen funds / criminal fraud. Fellow NYT employee refers to colleague as “the great” 😂 The media is another establishment failure that needs a massive overhaul — starting with deleting the NYT https://twitter.com…
@chainlinkgod @chainlinkgod on x
Why are all these mainstream publications like the NYT putting out such softball puff pieces about SBF? It would be like an article calling Bernie Madoff “ambitious and charitable” and quoting him as saying “yeah I get sleepy and play vidia games n' stuff” Ridiculous
@antoniogm Antonio García Martínez on x
I guess the way to get positive coverage in the NYT as a tech founder is to steal $10B. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@smtuffy Sean Tuffy on x
Any way, in this part he basically admits to wire fraud. So, enjoy prison you effective altruist putz https://twitter.com/...
@trungtphan Trung Phan on x
In NYT article, Alameda CEO admits to misappropriating FTX customer deposits. Per FTX Terms of Service, the deposits are not FTX's to use...and FTX can't loan it. NYT writes it up FTX “used” and “lent” deposits. Think the appropriate words are: “wire fraud”, “stole”, “theft”. htt…
@russmonk @russmonk on x
1. This NYT puff piece is unreal. Glad to hear he's found a new game to unwind. FTX was a criminal enterprise committing the greatest fraud of a generation, ruining countless lives. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@melt_dem Meltem Demirors on x
only the NYT would write a breathless love letter to a man who committed financial crime to the tune of billions of dollars without a shred of remorse or self awareness https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mayazi @mayazi on x
Some of the absolute best crypto reporting from mainstream media outlets has come out following the FTX crash - FT, WSJ, Bloomberg. Sadly, the NYT were first to actually speak to the man at the center of the story & totally blew it. A PR person couldn't have downplayed it better
@mayazi @mayazi on x
It's going to look so bad if it turns out the @nyt was an accessory to SBF's evidence tampering. Providing cover for the guy “just improvising” without asking the crucial questions is not a good look. https://twitter.com/...
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
Could have been worse?! It was worse for the tens of thousands of people you literally stole money from, you absolute delusional tool! https://twitter.com/...
@zooko @zooko on x
Disgusting complicity on the part of the New York Times. He has ruined countless people's lives by theft and fraud, and NYT is now helping him to delay or evade justice by whitewashing him in their prestigious, influential newspaper. I doubt this is just a mistake on their part. …
@icebergy_ @icebergy_ on x
Sbf getting fluff pieces in the NYT after using billions of dollars of customers funds but tornado cash dev is in jail
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
I mean, this is an admission of a crime because FTX ToS says you own title to your assets. So using those funds to make the payment is theft. Leave out perjury, wire fraud, etc, this is just blanket theft and they are just...admitting it... https://twitter.com/...
@arthur_0x Arthur on x
NYT lost whatever remaining ounce of credibility it has by writing this puff piece for SBF. https://twitter.com/...
@shl0ms @shl0ms on x
the NYT went harder on @genzmafia than SBF lmao
@buchmanster Ethan Buchman on x
An astonishing piece that goes over and above to avoid calling out the fraud. Despicable and infuriating. Let's look at some choice quotes 🧵 https://twitter.com/...
@fed_speak @fed_speak on x
“In the end, what's going to matter to me is what I've done and what I can do” is somehow a thing that SBF said and the NYT printed...TODAY. Buddy you have done unspeakable things and ruined the lives of so many. With absolutely no respect whatsoever, go fuck yourself. https://tw…
@zackkanter Zack Kanter on x
Just wait. This article wasn't written this way because the NYT is corrupt. It was written this way because SBF stole money from rich white crypto bros in order to make political donations at a critical time and rescue democracy from the brink - a modern day Robin Hood. https://t…
@coloradotravis @coloradotravis on x
NYT piece on FTX is absolutely amazing. The coverage is so naive it's like a child wrote it. ✅ present Sam as a someone who just made a few mistakes ✅ include an advert for a video game he made ✅ provide air cover for weird tweet removal gambit Astroturfing as a service.
@nosleepjon @nosleepjon on x
How is SBF not getting slammed in the media as hard as Elizabeth Holmes was? FTX was valued at $32B while Theranos was $10B. The scale of fraud is multiples bigger and directly impacted retail but NYT is still meat riding him?
@hsakatrades @hsakatrades on x
And so it begins. Bloomberg: Painting this is as some kind of “hyper masculine” bloodsport. Mentioning Sams “quirks” NYT: Just a straight up puff piece. “I'm getting sleep. I'm playing Storybook Brawl” Appalling https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://www.nytimes.com/... https://tw…
@iamdcinvestor @iamdcinvestor on x
SBF is just full of shit tbh doesn't seem like he's on the run if he's talking to the NYT like most of the scammers and frauds from this cycle, he is addicted to attention i'm going to stop discussing his tweets here unless he actually says something relevant to this case https:/…
@cvpayne Charles V Payne on x
.@nytimes spent past decade perfecting hit pieces they are incapable of written an honest article...especially of one of their own. https://twitter.com/...
@wclementeiii Will Clemente on x
The fact that SBF and Caroline are so willing to openly admit that they committed blatant fraud to NYT makes me think that there's more to the story here lol
@autismcapital @autismcapital on x
The NYT article was unquestionably soft. They're in a precarious situation. On the one hand, Sam stole $10 billion. On the other, Sam represents globalist values they love. And on the whole, they've promoted him and he is a huge dem donor. This is why we need citizen journalism.
@smtuffy Sean Tuffy on x
The main takeaway from this piece is that SBF is a dead-eyed sociopath https://www.nytimes.com/...
@autismcapital @autismcapital on x
Sam “explaining” his cryptic tweets. Taken from the recent NYT article. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@yaffebellany David Yaffe-Bellany on x
I spoke to SBF for over an hour. I asked about investigations, potential jail time and missing customer funds. He didn't have satisfying answers, but it was a rare chance to see what he's thinking at an insane time. Here's a free link to read it in full: https://www.nytimes.com/.…
@0xfoobar @0xfoobar on x
legacy media is dead. absolutely shameless trash https://twitter.com/...
@shitmgmtsays @shitmgmtsays on x
Spoke for an hour and revealed nothing. This is virtually a puff piece The only useful piece of information here is that SBF feels no remorse. He chalks all the fraud up to being too busy & not paying enough attention Madoff vibes. SBF paints himself a victim of unlucky times htt…
@renato_mariotti Renato Mariotti on x
Mr. Bankman-Fried had any sense, he would stop giving interviews to the press and exercise his right to remain silent. He is in serious criminal jeopardy. https://twitter.com/...
@krugermacro Alex Krüger on x
The NYT author @yaffebellany wrote about SBF as if he were writing a cozy article in the lifestyle section, instead of reporting on the successor of Bernie Maddoff. How much did you get paid for that piece?
@bantg @bantg on x
omg it's the same person who wrote a kraken hit piece this summer that has written an sbf love letter in nyt.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@TrungTPhan Why the puff piece @nytimes?
@barryfried1 @barryfried1 on x
Lmfao framing FTXs collapse as CZ's fault whilst Sam talks abt ppl being mean to him online + his favorite video games that help “clear his mind” Comical L https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ntmoney @ntmoney on x
Our institutions fail us often. FTX put the nail in the coffin. NYT writes glowingly. We now rely on citizen journalism & self custody.
@jconorgrogan Conor on x
NYT released an interesting piece on SBF today. Here is the author's twitter likes presented without comment https://twitter.com/...
@jespow Jesse Powell on x
At the same time they were pumping the FTX scam, they were writing defamatory gossip pieces about industry stalwarts, driving their audiences away from safe, reliable and proven venues. It's too generous to call these people clowns. They betray their duty. https://twitter.com/...
@coloradotravis @coloradotravis on x
Ah, he just took on too much trying to help too many people, yes of course. An issue of focus, yes I see. No. The moment you put your hand in the till, now you're a criminal. That's not an issue of focus or ambition, it's an issue of law and ethics. FFS https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
SBF gave an interview to @yaffebellany and appears to give 0 fuks anymore. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jgarzik Ser Jeff Garzik on x
The night is still young, and CT has already observed from the SBF puff piece in NYT, - NYT printed SBF falsehood - SBF shills FTX game in NYT - NYT somehow manages to play a pro-FTX role(!) in the broader exchange-v-exchange knife fight https://twitter.com/...
@emilyrpeck Emily Peck on x
It's not a new point but I can't help repeating. No female founder could show up dressed like this in public and expect to get handed billions of dollars. via @nytimes https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@gladstein @gladstein on x
The fact that the NYT protects and refuses to call SBF out as a scammer *even today* while they continue to attack Bitcoin as bad, criminal, destructive, etc tells you all you need to know about their agenda
@lukemulks @lukemulks on x
NYT writes a puff piece on SBF & FTX/Alameda. The more this situation plays out over mainstream channels, the more it reads as soft cover for massive political donations. What's missing? Numbers. Investigation. Facts. Charts. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
Attacking Mr. Zhao “was not a good strategic move on my part,” Mr. Bankman-Fried said https://www.nytimes.com/...
@cobie @cobie on x
Even if this is true, how is the hole so big? Hard to believe they managed to put so much $ into venture investments. Increasingly likely imo that they “invested” in companies that they owned, embezzling user deposits. https://twitter.com/...
@chainlinkgod @chainlinkgod on x
@yaffebellany Absolute puff piece, trying to frame SBF as “ambitious but overextended” SBF committed fraud by stealing billions of dollars worth of customers funds while lying to everyone the entire time NYT has had a policy to be negative on tech for years, why is SBF/FTX now th…
@unusual_whales @unusual_whales on x
This is not a joke. In this last week as FTX imploded, and millions of people lost millions of dollars, Sam of FTX said, per the NYT, that he was “playing the video game StoryBook brawl, though less than usually.” “It helps me unwind a bit. It clears my mind.”

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The New York Times' bizarre SBF profile presents the disgraced founder through a gauzy lens, fails to challenge him, and gives him the benefit of the doubt

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