Caroline Ellison appeared to be living the dream by her mid-20s. As CEO of Alameda Research, she was living life large alongside Sam Bankman-Fried and other employees of the FTX crypto exchange in the Bahamas.
However, her success plummeted when FTX was declared bankrupt and she found herself involved in a high-profile financial crime case.
But what is the story behind Caroline Ellison and what is her net worth?
Who is Caroline Ellison?
Caroline Ellison was born in November 1994, as the eldest of three daughters to parents who were academics.
Her father, Glenn Ellison, was a professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while her mother also worked in the economics unit at the university.
Ellison grew up in Boston and attended Stanford University between 2013 and 2016, studying mathematics.
READ MORE ON THE 24/7 PROJECT
Upon finishing her education, Ellison set about a career on Wall Street, joining the trading firm Jane Street Capital. It was here that she first met the now disgraced Sam Bankman-Fried, who would go on to found the FTX crypto exchange.
Sam Bankman-Fried – also known as SBF – quit Jane Street in 2017 in order to start his own hedge fund known as Alameda Research. Ellison was persuaded to join him less than two years into her career.
Ellison called the move “a blind leap into the unknown” but soon became one of the lead traders at the new firm and said joining Alameda was “too cool of an opportunity to pass up” but dealing with capital was “kind of daunting”.
She said: “Mostly, sort of, it was something I wasn’t used to thinking about.
“So it was sort of – I don’t know, I guess I was like a trader for, I mean, not that long at Jane Street but a year and a half, which was kind of more trading experience than a lot of Alameda traders had at the time.
“I kind of wanted to come in and be like an expert on everything, but there was still lots of stuff in the crypto world that I knew nothing about.”
Alongside Alameda Research, SBF had also set up the cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, with that side of the business increasingly taking his focus.
In order to dedicate more time to the crypto exchange, in October 2021 after SBF stepped back as CEO of Alameda Research and appointed Ellison in his place.
It meant that at the age of just 26 years old, Ellison became the leader of a multi-billion dollar business.
During her time in charge she lived with nine other FTX or Alameda colleagues in Bankman-Fried’s $30 million home in the Bahamas.
The group shared the mansion for both work and personal life, with rumours of the two often mixing together.
Ellison was believed to be in a romantic relationship with SBF during the time they spent together in the Bahamas.
While to the outside world, FTX and Alameda Research appeared to be thriving companies, the reality was quite different.
Unknown to those investing their money in FTX, customer funds were being siphoned off to Alameda in order to help the fund meet its liabilities.
The company had allegedly lent billions in customer funds from FTX, with the transfers going unnoticed by customers, employees, and auditors.
However, when there was a sudden surge in customers looking to withdraw funds from FTX, there wasn’t enough available money in the. Business to meet demand.
It led to panic across the cryptocurrency market, with coins plunging in value and FTX going bankrupt in November 2022. Legal proceedings were subsequently launched against SBF, Ellison, and a number of other senior employees.
It is alleged that Ellison was one of just four people aware of the decision to send FTX customer funds to Alameda.
In December 2022 Ellison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research, wire fraud on lenders of Alameda Research, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
What is Caroline Ellison’s net worth?
Caroline Ellison was thought to have a net worth of approximately $15 million prior to the collapse of FTX.
She received $6 million in payments and loans from Alameda Research during her tenure at the company
It is thought that her net worth has since significantly decreased, with those at the top of FTX and Alameda having lost most of their assets since the crypto exchange went bankrupt in November 2022.