Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted crypto fraudster serving a 25-year prison sentence, is opening up about life behind bars in a new interview with Tucker Carlson.
A key topic of discussion has been Bankman-Fried’s interactions with rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is also serving time at the same Brooklyn detention center on charges related to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bankman-Fried described Combs as “kind to people in the unit” and shared that he had been kind to him as well.
In the roughly 40-minute interview, Bankman-Fried reflected on life in prison, describing it as a “soul-crushing place” and noting that prisoners are defined more by who they are on the inside rather than their past lives. Carlson highlighted that both he and Diddy are among “the most famous prisoners in the world.” However, Bankman-Fried said he wouldn’t mention to Combs that it was his 33rd birthday, though someone else might.
Living with a celebrity like Diddy has been an unusual experience for Bankman-Fried, especially after his conviction for defrauding customers and investors in his failed crypto exchange, FTX. His 25-year sentence, although about half of what prosecutors had initially sought, is still one of the longer sentences for white-collar fraud cases.
Bankman-Fried also shared that he’s made some friends in prison, although he described it as a “weird environment” with a mix of high-profile cases and former gangsters, many of whom are surprisingly skilled at chess.
In the interview, Bankman-Fried revealed that his political views have shifted over time. Once a donor to former President Joe Biden, he now leans right and privately donates to Republicans, saying his time spent in Washington, D.C., during Biden’s administration led him to be “really shocked” by what he saw, which pushed him away from supporting Democrats.
Tucker Carlson asked Sam Bankman-Fried about crypto regulation, acknowledging that it might seem strange to ask if it’s moving in a “good direction,” but he couldn’t resist. Bankman-Fried’s response was cautiously optimistic. He hoped that a change in leadership could bring improvement but noted that financial regulators, being large bureaucracies in the federal government, don’t typically change quickly. He also pointed out that regulators have been a major obstacle for crypto over the past decade.
Regarding his once massive wealth, which peaked at around $15 billion, Bankman-Fried said it has nearly disappeared. Besides his prison sentence, he also forfeited $11 billion. Reflecting on his former company, he explained that had it not faced any issues, it would have had around $93 billion in assets and $15 billion in liabilities. In theory, there should have been enough money to pay back everyone, but things didn’t work out that way, as everything became entangled in a bankruptcy.