FTX proposes $4M employee bonus plan; intends to sell $45M stake in Sequoia Capital
Bankrupt FTX has proposed a retention plan that would pay exchange employees bonuses of up to 94% of their salaries, according to court filings dated March 8.
The bonus is capped at $4,027,204 and is designed to accommodate employees with “unique professional skill sets” that are difficult to replace and important to the company.
Around filing, FTX employees eligible for these bonuses included those with programming knowledge in Python, Rust, Flutter, and NodeJS. Others include employees who are familiar with the company’s administrative operations, accounting and financial processes, etc.
These employees have taken on additional responsibilities and workloads since FTX CEO John Ray cut staff at the exchange, according to filings. He further said the company’s current cryptocurrency and stock-based rewards programs are worth little since it filed for bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, the filing states that “insiders” or former top executives of FTX Samuel Bankman Freed, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Caroline Ellison and their families will not be paid bonuses. On top of that, no bonuses are paid to employees involved in fraud.
FTX wants to sell its stake in Sequoia Capital for $45 million
In a further development, FTX sister company Alameda Research plans to sell its stake in venture capital firm Sequoia Capital to Al Nawwar Investments RSC Limited for $45 million, a court said on March 8. filing.
Alameda agreed to sell to Al-Nawwar because of its “excellent offer and ability to execute the sale transaction in the short term,” according to the filing.
Al Nawwar is a company incorporated under the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Act and is reportedly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. The filing notes that the company is also an investor in Sequoia Capital.
The transaction is subject to approval by a Delaware bankruptcy judge and is expected to close by March 31.
Meanwhile, Sequoia was one of FTX’s investors. The venture capital firm is one of the first investment firms to write off its investment in a cryptocurrency exchange.
