Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani are among prominent professional athletes taking significant losses in the collapse of cryptocurrency marketplace FTX.
Brady and ex-wife, Gisele Bundchen, each took majority stakes in the company in September, and touted FTX in a series of commercials and encouraged peers to be part of the crypto craze.
"It's an incredibly exciting time in the crypto-world and Sam and the revolutionary FTX team continue to open my eyes to the endless possibilities," Brady said in 2021. "This particular opportunity showed us the importance of educating people about the power of crypto while simultaneously giving back to our communities and planet. We have the chance to create something really special here, and I can't wait to see what we're able to do together."
Major League Baseball umpires wore the FTX logo patch on shirts and jackets during games.
Ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried lost his entire $16 billion fortune when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week.
Late last week, bitcoin prices were at their lowest level in two years and another popular crypto stock, Ethereum, was on a rapid decline.
FTX listed Bundchen as environmental and social initiatives advisor until recently.
Other sports and stars were deeply impacted, Barron's and Marketwatch reported.
With naming rights to the former American Airlines arena, home to the Miami Heat, and a $10 million sponsorship with the Golden State Warriors and Chase Center in San Francisco, FTX was a prominent name in the NBA. Steph Curry was a stakeholder and multiple NBA2K teams were sponsored by FTX.
Miami-Dade County and the Heat announced Friday they were looking for a new naming rights partner for the arena.
Ohtani took his complete stake as an ambassador in stock, company equity and cryptocurrency, and similar contracts existed for tennis star Naomi Osaka and Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
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