Losses Pile Up in FTX Bankruptcy Turmoil

FTX never said why it was interested in the tiny lender. The presence of FTX (and other new investors) does appear to have modernized the bank a bit. Farmington now goes by Moonstone Bank online. The name was trademarked a few days before FTX’s investment. Moonstone’s website doesn’t say anything about bitcoin or other digital currencies, but it does say Moonstone wants to support “the evolution of next-generation finance.”

Farmington has more than one crypto connection. The bank, which has been around since 1887, was bought by FBH Corp. in 2020. The chairman of that company is Jean Chalopin, who, along with being a co-creator of the cartoon cop Inspector Gadget in the 1980s, is also the chairman of Deltec Bank, which, like FTX, is based in the Bahamas. Deltec’s best known client is Tether, a crypto company with $65 billion in assets offering a stablecoin that is pegged to the dollar. Tether has long faced concerns about its finances, in part because of its reclusive owners and offshore bank accounts. The fact that Tether’s main banker and FTX were co-owners of a small Washington bank is sure to get Tether’s critics talking, if not regulators poking around.

Could the Glazers sell Manchester United?

Manchester United parted ways with its star player Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday, but its investors (and plenty of disgruntled fans) couldn’t be happier. Shares of the fabled soccer club jumped nearly 15 percent on the New York Stock Exchange after its American owners, the Glazer family, said they had hired advisers to find outside investors or sell the team.

The club’s market capitalization hit nearly $2.5 billion following Tuesday’s rally. But Forbes has valued Man U, which has an avid global fan base and rich history, at closer to twice that. Fans have been clamoring for a change in ownership for years, as the club hasn’t won a league title since 2013.

Dealmaking is heating up in the Premier League. In May, the private equity firm Clearlake Capital and the American billionaire Todd Boehly, a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, acquired Chelsea from the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich for $5.4 billion. Liverpool is also on the block. The club’s American owners, Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, put it up for sale earlier this month.

Who would bid? The private equity group Apollo and Britain’s richest man, Jim Ratcliffe, emerged as possible suitors in August when rumors began circulating that the Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, were looking for an exit. A spokesman for Ratcliffe, the billionaire founder of the chemicals giant Ineos, told DealBook at the time that he “would be interested in buying the club if it was for sale.” When reached this morning, he had no further comment. Apollo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/23/business/dealbook/sbf-ftx-bankruptcy-turmoil.html