FTX owes the whopping $600K Margaritaville bill after racking up a $400K DoorDash bill

Defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville resort a whopping $600,000, court documents revealing the firm’s lavish spending, as well as a $403,765 bill racked up on delivery app DoorDash, have revealed.

The sum owed to the seaside retreat named after Buffett’s hit single is more than ten times what was previously thought, and the Bahamian hotel claims they still owe $599,409 to Sam Bankman’s beleaguered hedge fund. -Fried, who filed for bankruptcy last November.

At the time, reports indicated that the Nassau complex, located on the opposite side of the island from FTX’s sprawling offices, was seeking $55,319 from the investigation of Alameda, the firm’s sister exchange, which was also owned by the 31-year-old alleged fraudster.

Now court documents filed in federal court this week show that the sum was an outright underestimate, as employees reportedly stayed for weeks, or in some cases months, in elegant luxury suites at the luxurious resort.

In addition to the extended stays, the filing alleges that FTX staff at its US office in Chicago also racked up a staggering $400,000 DoorDash bill in the span of just a few months, after its more than 75 employees allowed three meals a day all in the company. ten cents.

The company-paid meals reportedly consisted of New York strip steak and lobster dishes for $56, which even if ordered three times in one day, would not exceed a $200 daily food credit offered by FTX. .

Taking into account the aforementioned employees, court documents indicate that FTX offered an allocation of $15,000 in DoorDash food delivery credits every day, before the company ultimately filed for bankruptcy.

Several of those rejected employees revealed to the Financial Times earlier this year that FTX had been giving employees the generous food stipend, which Bankman-Fried insisted at the time would be covered by the company.

Fast-forward a few months later, and that company is no more, its disgraced founder having traded his fancy island digs for his parents’. home in the Bay Area, where he remains under house arrest after being released on $250 million bail.

Since their release late last year, FTX and Almada’s spending has come under scrutiny, and federal investigators have unmasked some of the overblown amenities Bankman-Fried promised to provide before her house of cards finally fell.

Those amenities reportedly included Free groceries, a complimentary barbershop, and biweekly massages in the glitzy 9,000-square-foot American office, which FTX was poised to vacate just months before it suddenly collapsed, in favor of a multimillion-dollar headquarters in a 35-story Miami tower. .

Newly released court documents, which were filed in Delaware bankruptcy court, further revealed DoorDash’s massive bill, nearly $50,000 of which has yet to be paid.

The filing, which was obtained and viewed by Insider, showed invoices for a combined $403,765 from the food delivery giant obtained by various FTX entities.

Most of the bill was paid by the entity that controls FTX US – West Realm Shires Services – which offered $357,526 between May and July 2022.

The documents indicate that the food delivery company is still owed $46,239 by Alameda, FTX’s investment arm, though DoorDash has yet to rule on those claims.

In a statement to Insider, DoorDash confirmed that FTX US had been a customer of DoorDash’s business package, dubbed “DoorDash for Work, our employee benefits product.”

Court filings on Wednesday also exposed the full financial damage suffered by FTX Bahamas workers at Buffet’s five-star retreat, where employees allegedly stayed “for weeks or months” in some 20 suites at One Particular Harbor, priced it ranges from $365,000 to over $6 million.

In statements provided to Bloomberg, Buffet’s resort employees disclosed the arrangement, stating that employees regularly boarded a shuttle bus at the beginning of the workday to leave Margaritaville, before returning on the bus at the end of the day to their courtesy digs at the other end of the island.

The trip would take approximately 30 minutes, employees said at the time.

The recent revelations about FTX’s expenses come as attorneys handling its Chapter 11 case have revealed some of the questionable practices Bankman-Fried had when it came to money.

According to court documents, employees submitted the expenses through online chat platforms, which managers would regularly approve with emojis.

An employee told The Financial Times: ‘He just went crazy. If Sam said he was fine, he was ready to go. Regardless of the amount.

Lawyers also recently revealed that FTX would regularly hire private planes to ship Amazon packages from Miami to staff at its Bahamas headquarters, all because the company did not ship to the island.

In addition, it was disclosed that Bankman-Fried and his colleagues also used company funds to purchase $300 million worth of luxury real estate on the island nation, as well as high-end properties in the exclusive Albany community.

Bankman-Fried is currently facing several federal charges related to the FTX collapse, as he is accused of looting the platform for personal gain and securities fraud.

He has pleaded not guilty and is being held at his parents’ home in California until his trial begins in October.