
While the press often praised him for his humility, the founder and CEO of the crypto exchange FTX plastered ads of himself all over the city, and particularly in areas where congressional staffers might walk to work, like Union Station. Although Sam still lived in the Bahamas in order to avoid regulation, he was shuttling from Nassau to Washington, D.C., every week or two to meet with lawmakers and regulators, making a power play for the nation's capital.
After FTX's crash, theories would fly about Sam's larger designs on Washington. Some speculated that he had been angling to move FTX back to U.S. soil and carve out concessions to make it the top crypto company in the country. Others believed he was laying the groundwork for a political career himself. A less charitable theory was that he hoped to pre-emptively seek federal leniency for the illegal activity he knew he was already committing.
Whatever Sam's long-term goals were, he made his short-term aims plenty evident: he stumped for a friendlier regulatory climate for crypto companies in the U.S., so that he could sell more crypto products to Americans. Getting favorable legislation seemed feasible in 2022, given how much national excitement there was about crypto-and how little lawmakers actually understood it.
Sam's approach to Washington was two-pronged. The first was a charm offensive, involving high-profile hearing appearances and closed-door meetings with members of Congress and regulatory officials. The second was a donations blitzkrieg for crypto-friendly candidates, which was led by Sam's younger brother Gabe. Sam's money and sudden omnipresence in Washington sent shock waves through the Democratic Party establishment. "Washington is a place where the power structure is more or less set," says a former member of the Treasury Department. "And Sam disrupted it."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 26, 2024-Ausgabe von Time.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 26, 2024-Ausgabe von Time.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden

NIH budget cuts are causing chaos
THE U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) IS THE largest funder of biomedical research in the world, and its grants create the foundation of basic science knowledge on which major health advances are built.

Zero Day's uncannily apolitical Washington
IN AN EARLY SCENE OF THE NETFLIX THRILLER ZERO DAY, a former U.S. President is visiting the site of a deadly Manhattan subway crash when an onlooker starts shouting about crisis actors.

For the love of voice notes
SOMEWHERE IN THE BLUR OF 2020, AS I SLIPPED OUTside with a mask and running shoes in the early morning to walk around the block, the lilting drawl of a friend's \"Hiiiiii\" nearly stopped me in my tracks.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.As the U.S. Health Secretary
THE SENATE CONFIRMED ROBERT F. Kennedy Jr., one of country's most notorious vaccine skeptics, to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Feb. 13, sparking outrage among public-health experts who worry that Kennedy will harm public health and further erode trust in science and medicine.

THE RISE OF GERMANY'S FAR RIGHT
Alice Weidel's AfD party is making gainswith a boost from the Trump Administration

Net Zero Is Not Enough
AUSTRALIAN MINING BILLIONAIRE ANDREW FORREST'S GREEN CRUSADE

How will your new company, Respin, help women in menopause?
Halle Berry The Oscar-winning actor says there’sa desperate need to inform women about menopause. Her new company aims to fill that education and empathy gap

How we talk about the Holocaust now
VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE ARRIVED AT THE DACHAU concentration camp under low, gray clouds.

South Korea's political drama will produce waves overseas
SOUTH KOREA'S political crisis continues. After President Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached and arrested following his aborted imposition of martial law last December, the country's Constitutional Court will now decide his future. Legal experts say Yoon will soon be removed from office and sent to prison.

WOMEN of the YEAR
13 extraordinary leaders fighting for a more equal future