Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal has reached a settlement in the FTX class-action lawsuit, agreeing to pay nearly $2 million to investors of the defunct crypto exchange. The settlement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, will see O’Neal pay $1.8 million to affected FTX investors.
The lawsuit against O’Neal was initiated by users of the crypto exchange in May 2023, following his appearance in an FTX commercial in 2022. The commercial aired just months before FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, went bankrupt.
In a recent development, O’Neal’s settlement marks the first resolution in what could be a series of high-profile lawsuits linked to FTX’s fraudulent activities. Other celebrities who promoted FTX before its collapse, such as Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, and Kevin O’Leary, were recently cleared of several claims by a Florida federal judge.
O’Neal has consistently maintained that he was only a paid spokesperson for the commercial and had no involvement in FTX’s fraudulent activities. He expressed relief at having the matter resolved, stating, “We are pleased to have this matter behind us.”
Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried, the mastermind behind FTX’s fraudulent scheme, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after a trial in 2023. Several key associates, including his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, testified against him during the trial. Bankman-Fried’s appeal was rejected in late 2024, and he is now incarcerated at FCI Terminal Island in California.
Ellison, who entered into a cooperation agreement with the government, is serving a two-year sentence at Danbury FCI in Connecticut. The former “king of crypto” and his associates have faced severe consequences for their involvement in the fraudulent activities at FTX.
Overall, the settlement between Shaquille O’Neal and FTX investors signifies a step towards closure in the legal fallout from the crypto exchange’s collapse. As more high-profile individuals are drawn into the drama surrounding FTX, the resolution of these lawsuits will continue to unfold in the coming months.