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In a deal designed to shore up confidence in Anthony Scaramucci's fund business, Sam Bankman-Fried paid about $45 million for a 30% stake in SkyBridge Capital. According to two people familiar with the arrangements, the deal valued SkyBridge at around $150 million, but it was done with the condition that $40 million of the revenues would go toward the cryptocurrency bets. The capital infusion from Bankman-Fried's FTX Ventures, according to Scaramucci, indicated SkyBridge had a great future after it incurred losses related to the falling value of digital assets this week. At the press conference on Monday, Scaramucci said,
"If you have $50mn in liquid assets on your balance sheet, people don't think you're going out of business. It was very important to me to say that SkyBridge is set up for the next 20 or 30 years."
Scaramucci Refused To Discuss FTX's Agreement
Scaramucci refused to go into detail about the specifics of FTX's agreement with SkyBridge but said that it gave Bankman-Fried's vehicle a three-year option to purchase 85% of his fund group. Scaramucci claimed that SkyBridge, which manages $2.8 billion in assets, has experienced a 25% decline this year and that the FTX purchase stemmed from SkyBridge's poor performance in a terrible market.
FTX - World's Biggest Crypto Exchange
One of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, FTX, is managed by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who recently used his wealth to bail out failing crypto companies. Historically, SkyBridge has invested in hedge funds, but Scaramucci switched to cryptocurrencies after publicly endorsing digital assets. Before the 2022 sell-off, the fund invested 16% in cryptocurrencies, but as the value of digital tokens declined, that percentage reduced to 8%. Instead of keeping the new cryptocurrencies in its funds, SkyBridge keeps them on its balance sheet. The agreement with the cryptocurrency entrepreneur had a three to five-year time frame, and Scaramucci would control the last 15% stake if Bankman-Fried fully exercised its right to expand its SkyBridge investment.