Symposium attendees include President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and controversial former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
Some of “today’s most significant minds” will speak at a conference hosted by the New York Times, and anybody who wants to hear from them must apply for a speaking slot and pay $2,499. Contrary to the rest of the group, though, these two speakers appear to have a history together.
Bankman-Fried has provided an excellent interview to Breitbart News, despite allegations that he mismanaged the assets of FTX customers that surfaced only last week. Bank man and bitcoin trader Fried allegedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States after a week of upheaval.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Bankman-Fried spent more than $40 million on the 2018 midterm elections to aid Democrats. The vast majority of this funding went toward primary races rather than general elections.
The media reports that the banker business Fried’s has launched a website to help gather funds for the Ukrainian people in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression. Still, others have speculated that Bankman-Democratic Fried’s Party-aligned political allies benefited financially from the donation.
According to a story on Fox News,
Financial institution “assistance,” if you will, Money made from sales of Fried will go toward helping Ukrainians fund their fight against Russian occupation. The success of the campaign may be attributed to the combined efforts of three Ukrainian institutions: the Ministry of Digital Transformation, FTX, and the Ukrainian internet corporation Everstake.
Donations in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin have been made to the Ukrainian government’s central bank. A 30-year-old cryptocurrency specialist tweeted in early March said he was “glad and excited” to be working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance and others to enhance bitcoin donations to Ukraine.
Last week, Alex Bornyakov, the deputy minister of digital transformation in Ukraine, took to Twitter to dismiss as “false” claims that the country had used public funds to invest in FTX, with the proceeds going to Democratic lawmakers.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and potential 2024 presidential contender Mike Pence, current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and former Israeli Prime Minister and current head of the Israeli opposition Benjamin Netanyahu all look to be there as speakers.
Priscilla Sims Brown, president and CEO of Amalgamated Bank, will speak, as will Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), Van Jones, CNN host, author, and founder of Dream.org, Scarlett Lewis, founder of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, Larry Page, founder and CEO of Google, and others.