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- Prosecutors in the criminal trial against Sam Bankman-Fried shared photos of a condo he once lived in.
- The prosecutors said the penthouse in the Bahamas was worth about $35 million.
- The condo includes a rooftop pool, a floor-to-ceiling view of the ocean, two spas, and at least six bathrooms.
Prosecutors pointed to Sam Bankman-Fried's lavish lifestyle during the criminal trial against the FTX cofounder, sharing photos of the penthouse condo in the Bahamas Sam Bankman-Fried once lived in, which they claim was worth about $35 million.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers had requested some of the photos of the condo be kept out of evidence, but Judge Lewis Kaplan denied the request.
In the trial, which started on Tuesday, Bankman-Fried is being accused of fleecing FTX customers and investors out of billions of dollars, some of which they allege was used for personal or family-related real-estate purchases, and commingling funds between his crypto currency exchange platform and its affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Take a look inside the condo where Bankman-Fried and his coworkers spent much of their time.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
The 600-acre Albany community was founded by a group of investors that includes several in celebrities such as Tiger Woods, Will Smith, and Justin Timberlake, Fortune previously reported.
Between 2020 and 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried, his parents, and some of the executives at his companies bought about 19 different properties in the Bahamas, Reuters reported last year.
The publication said the purchases included seven condos at the Albany location which came to about $72 million in total.
Courtesy of the US Department of Defense
"Orchid — the building closest to the ocean, the one with the most sweeping views — was more subtle," Michael Lewis wrote in his book on Bankman-Fried, comparing the building to other Albany properties. "It looked nothing like an orchid in any light, but its exterior was wrapped with an aluminum sheath whose pattern was meant to call to mind the tropical flower."
The property was listed for sale for nearly $40 million the same day FTX filed for bankruptcy last year. But, the listing has since been taken down.
Courtesy of the US Department of Defense
According to Lewis, Bankman-Fried lived at the condo with his on-and-off again girlfriend and then-Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX cofounder Gary Wang, former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh, and his college friend Adam Yedidia.
The author said Bankman-Fried was later "booted" out of the condo by Ellison.
On Wednesday, Yedidia testified that he lived in the condo with nine other people, including Bankman-Fried. Yedidia said the property was bought for about $35 million by Alameda Research at Bankman-Fried's direction.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
"Every aspect of the penthouse was meticulously designed with Venetian plaster walls matching Italian marble accents throughout, German engineered doors and windows, and wired throughout for sound," the listing said, according to a report from The Guardian.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
The bedrooms in the condo include a master bedroom with two bathrooms attached, as well as four bedrooms each equipped with their own bathrooms, according to The Guardian.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
The spa has an outdoor television and a sitting area.
It's unclear whether Bankman-Fried occupied the master bedroom while he lived there. Lewis wrote that each of the occupants slept in mostly identical rooms.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
Pictures of the living room show either a set of binoculars or a small telescope near the dining room table.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
"I'm not that much of a consumer, exactly," he once told an interviewer.
Bankman-Fried has said in the past that he was aiming to make as much money as possible so that he could put the money toward doing as much good as possible. He once told Bloomberg he planned to keep just 1% of his earnings and give the rest away.
"Look, there are a lot of things that I think have really a massive impact on the world," Bankman-Fried told The New York Times in November, saying the things he'd done at FTX had been for the good of humanity. "And ultimately that's what I care about the most. And, I mean, I think frankly that the blockchain industry could have a substantial positive impact. I was thinking a lot about, you know, bed nets and malaria, about, you know, saving people from diseases no one should die from."
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
"The purple light made it seem glamorous, and elicited envy even from those accustomed to being envied," Lewis wrote.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
Though, Bankman-Fried was unlikely to enjoy a barbeque outside as he has said he's vegan.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
Bankman-Fried has been known to be an avid video game player.
Lewis wrote in his book that the FTX cofounder played video games during his first live television interview and games during business phone calls.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
Lewis wrote in his book that Bankman-Fried read J.K. Rowling's series several times during his youth, but started to dislike books as he grew older.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
During the trial, Bankman-Fried's lawyers unsuccessfully contested the use of pictures related to the marina because they said it would make it seem as if the FTX cofounder owned a yacht to the jurors.
The former FTX CEO has said in the past that the only reason superyachts exist is because billionaires "can't figure out what to do with their money."
"When you think about yourself personally, about spending money on yourself, how much can you spend usefully on yourself?" Bankman-Fried told Yahoo Finance Live in April 2022 before FTX collapsed. "You can buy nice food. You're talking about hundreds of thousands a year, right? You get to millions a year with fancy things, but after the 10th car, it's not fair what you're doing."
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
Lewis said in his book that the condo overlooked a beach, but Bankman-Fried and his colleagues rarely walked the beach or enjoyed the penthouse's views of the ocean.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
The Albany resort community also has an 18-hole golf course and 11 private restaurants, according to Fortune.
Courtesy of the Department of Justice
The kitchen is also equipped with a television screen.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
The area appears to look out into another room.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
While the bar appears fully stocked in the photos, Bankman-Fried and his colleagues have been depicted as anything but heavy drinkers.
On Tuesday, Bankman-Fried's lawyers argued that the crypto whiz was a "math nerd who didn't drink or party." In his book, Lewis wrote that a glass of wine was an "act of hedonism" for the occupants of the penthouse.
Courtesy of the US Department of Justice
He said they took away from the chic appeal of the house with nerdy gadgets and haphazardly discarded paraphernalia.
"One wall was now obscured by a row of computer monitors whose cords snaked across the marble like jungle vines," Lewis wrote in his book, referring to the condo's occupants as effective altruists or EAs. "A cheap Ikea-like bookshelf groaned under the weight of the EAs' favorite board games: Galaxy Trucker, Wingspan, 7 Wonders, more than one chess set."