The Big Take

How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Elite Parents Enabled His Crypto Empire

Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both renowned Stanford scholars, opened doors for their son and provided a halo effect for his company.

Photographer: Arsh Raziuddin. Photos: Getty Images (2); Josh Edelson (1)

By Max Chafkin and Hannah Miller

September 14, 2023 at 4:01 AM UTC

This article is part of the September 18, 2023 issue of businessweek.

Around the Bankman and Fried house, Larry David was a family favorite. So the parents were understandably excited when they got the email from their son Sam. He wrote that his company, FTX, would be airing a commercial during the 2022 Super Bowl and that David was starring in it.

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