Marc Cohodes on Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), Fraud, & The FTX Death Spiral

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Today's episode is with famed short-seller Marc Cohodes. Marc has investigated and brought down some major frauds in the past, and earlier this year he set his eyes on crypto darling Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must be aware of the bankruptcy of FTX and other related crypto entities, but the bigger story may be the alleged fraud, which includes accusations of stealing billions of dollars of customer deposits, providing executives with loans up to $1 billion, and much more.
This is a story that almost seems too insane to be true. Hindsight bias comes for us all, and while many people now say the red flags were clear as day, there were very few people criticizing or Sam & FTX before the recent couple of weeks. But on August 1 this year, Marc tweeted, “The Best Short on The Board is this fella…SBF.”
John Ray is the new CEO & Chief Restructuring Officer for FTX and famously oversaw the liquidation of Enron. Given his decades of experience in this role, the statement he made in the recent bankruptcy filing is eye-opening and summarizes the depth of the situation: "never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here [at FTX].”
Since this is a story that seems to change by the day, note that we are recording this on Monday, November 21st.
To see links or read the transcript of the episode, visit us at:
mebfaber.com/2022/11/25/marc-...
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[@frankyfourfingers1382]

Cohodes is my kinda guy, man. I'd sure love to be able to watch this guy day after day doing his art.

[@KK-pm7ud]

It would probably give you anxiety

[@Wolfsheim23]

Ya Naked Short Selling and ruining businesses or advising other HFs on how to do it.

[@frankyfourfingers1382]

@@Wolfsheim23 I'm sorry that you owned businesses that did not offer you a sufficient margin of safety for the price you paid and/or were frauds. But the fact is short sellers offer a counterweight to euphoric fomo on the way up, and on the way down cause price stability when they take profits at prices they see as supported by fundamentals. If one believes in even a hint of market efficiency, there is no way a short seller can "ruin" a business that wasn't already on death's door. Guys like Cohodes just shine a light on reasons why the company may be absolute shit, and if the market agrees, stock goes down, if it doesn't agree, stock goes up and Cohodes gets wrecked.

[@Wolfsheim23]

@@frankyfourfingers1382 The driving down of small corporations through repeated Shorting for years is a virus. Naked Shorting has become more and more Prevalent. You've been convinced this is a good thing because that is part of their strategy to keep doing it as long as they can. Learn the facts. Normal shorting, puts/calls.. that's healthy. Not driving small corps into dust, drumming up Short & Distort campaigns to ruin lives. All to high five with your buddies. This is a scummy t thing.

[@Wolfsheim23]

I guess you believe all Fake news too? Like CNN follower etc? Fraud indeed.. oh the irony.

[@putnamcountycrimeanalysiswandr]

Cohodes is the only guy who saw SBF for the scam that he is. Tremendous investigator

[@bigdubi24]

“People don’t take the time to be slow and just think, and it’s really kind of sad.” Love this guy!

[@jimhen459]

no, there all suckers--

[@vthetravellingwriter]

Very few real man out there brave enough to expose the corruption in this world. Too many people believing they are invincible!

[@marcgerges1380]

Marc just keeps getting better, consistent, thorough and true!

[@leomarkaable1]

Marc has a deep sense of ethics.

[@RockyP-xw8rd]

One of the best financial interviews I have seen in many years. Fantastic stuff.

[@tarheelace]

Good show. Cohodes is an intriguing guy.

[@nissan38p69]

thank you for breaking it down!!With everything going on right now, the best decision to be on any creative man's heart is having a profitable investment strategy.

[@roberternest4641]

@user-og9ik1cn5v Same here, started with $3,000 now earning $28,300 bi-weekly profits with his trading program.

[@DavidMChampeau]

I found this interview from a link in ZH. Great stuff. A few weeks ago I was pitched three crypto deals using the words “no risk”. This was just before FTX collapse.

[@edwinalvarez1619]

This show was great! Mainstream media don’t want to talk to real people anymore.

[@dcraexon134]

#FreeBritney

[@giftedandbroke]

This guy is brilliant! Great interview, off to search for more interviews with him.

[@lancobear3544]

I'd love to have a beer with Marc and listen to the wild stories.

[@ThomasKrul]

Marc called Silverbank, 4 months ago. What a legend!

[@CaptBeefart1]

I told my niece he didn't know what he was doing and she got upset saying, "yes he did," but what I was meaning Is, "he does not get the meaning of decentralized," that was back when the collapse was making news... I started learning about crypto's In early 2021 when I started a coinbase account feeling like I was In a dark alley even with them and they are one of the top exchanges following rules to the best of their knowledge I have been told. It was scary with something this new.

[@robindorrell9347]

Love this guy! He's kind of a wall street type sweetheart/protector. I don't usually listen to this kind of podcast but Marc caught my attention and I learned a thing or two. Thanks!

[@barbarataylor2258]

The quality of your content Mickey, is completely mind blowing, can't thank you enough!! Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and yours!🌲😘

[@TheFreelanceTeacher]

Lots of wisdom and sage advice in this interview. Great stuff.

[@t.c.s.7724]

Great interview. Bless you both, gentlemen.

[@UGPVlogsLA]

Brilliant interview..thank you!

[@tethergobrrr]

Cohodes is my new hero. Godspeed activist shorts✊

[@one4320]

The elephant in the room is where did the money come from? If not the Korean arbitrage, then where... think Epstein.

[@TonyDanza4Lyfe]

It’s pretty clear this guy Gary wang was the brains behind the scheme and used this buffoon as a frontman to take the heat. He is associated with some form of malfeasance emanating from china. 100 percent he made off like dust in the wind with at least 400 mill that he stole. China doesn’t extradite. He’s home free right now

[@sekirotelcoin3336]

Great interview 👍

[@rustyp5810]

Cahodes has cojones. !!!

[@nirgil]

The greatest of all time. Thanks from my heart

[@yuglesstube]

What the fuck is wrong with regulators! Why is it that all of these scams and schemes go unnoticed by the regulators? The GFC, Madoff and crypto...there were warnings that went unheeded. Excellent interview. Thanks.

[@user-hv9vn4fi4w]

Because they need your money!

[@lauratanner8475]

There's only one plausible answer to that question. But requires crossing that blurry line into conspiracy theory!! Duh duh duuuhhh!!!!

[@markminister2599]

Keep in mind the crime is embezzlement or theft. All regulators are after the fact. Also, no jurisdiction. It sucks though.

[@dreece2000]

They don't go unnoticed

[@yuglesstube]

@@dreece2000 if not unnoticed, what explains their lack of intervention? I have heard the SEC described as chickens chasing foxes. Probably corruption involved too

[@veganbutcherhackepeter]

If something with absolutely no intrinsic value that's worth $6 goes to $60.000 in just a few years I'm thinking Dutch tulips bubble, but not "yeah, that sounds like a plausible story". In the end, it all boils down to human greed and stupidity. Greed feeds on brains.

[@jimhen459]

no, that's the generator yeah, but regulators and enforcement, and surveillance and due diligence -- and people being well paid to do this all sleeping on their jobs.....

[@Luis496]

No bs, just truth bombs

[@speteydog2260]

These slimy thieves need to be taught a lesson! Thanks to you!

[@tethergobrrr]

And the media who covers for them. They won’t stop, even now they’ve been busted.

[@alandoni72]

Great interview, you got your self s subscriber!

[@KK-pm7ud]

Cohodes should look into potential connections between the CCP and sports card speculation.

[@loanshark1757]

Mind boggling that a single coin had an arbitrage opportunity of 5000 dollars, so much for defi and all the imperfections of finance that it proclaims to cure and this trade is supposed to be totally digital.

[@frankstipes4114]

Great interview!!!..mistakes are mistakes if they are made unintentionally , not when whats done is with intent . The rest of the "followers" were sucked in..

[@northerngirl4666]

So so happy to have found your site! I am almost ignorant when it comes to investing but I remember the hype about bitcoins. It just didn’t make sense to me. I looked at SBF and I wouldn’t;’t have given the guy a dollar to go across the street to buy me a bag of chips. After the crash, I subsequently watched interviews with the principles and I thought is it me? These people just sound stupid! Why is everyone calling them geniuses! I truly enjoyed the analysis and reality sandwich Cohodes lays down. Bravo!

[@Ks-zz9lh]

Such a great guest for your show. Thx for the upload.

[@splaz333]

dont ask him about the sec fining tzero or he'll block you

[@sunnymoondog]

Ellison went to Stanford, not MIT. SBF went to MIT.

[@KK-pm7ud]

Ellison's father is an Economics professor at MIT

[@sunnymoondog]

@@KK-pm7ud yes. I was commenting on Marc saying that Ellison went to MIT.

[@KK-pm7ud]

@@sunnymoondog He said Ellison went to Stanford if you listen to it again

[@sunnymoondog]

​​@@KK-pm7ud No he didn't. He said Caroline went to MIT. Timestamp is 27:50

[@KK-pm7ud]

@@sunnymoondog Earlier he said she went to Stanford

[@rnixon714]

Yeah, I was saying for three weeks, "This guy talks in circles". He changes the subject, hides from the question, puts on that, "I'm just a dumb kid, I got cocky, I made mistakes", still don't know what happened" mask. You know, in SBF's world, everything happens. It's like no-fault insurance. I recently watched this "life just happens", "I didn't plan this", "Look over there (Amoleda), not here" pathetic, rationalizing, weak, rambling, squealing go on for 3 weeks in Wisconsin. Darrel Brooks, the coward who ran over children, grandmas, and a bunch of others in a tantrum rage, shares the same logic as SBF. It's a total bare-ass insult to the truth, and it's so....ugly.

[@kerrinnaude2777]

48:30 not thinking in all domains, rushing. Preach.

[@Ks-zz9lh]

Marc Cohodes is a hero! Full stop. Never seen another guy who is as brave as him. Absolute legend. Definition of a power broker.

[@fbnc11]

Excellent!!

[@Bizzyphazilly]

Thanks for all the insight.

[@charlene8551]

Great show same no one listened shows people did know. Why is no one in jail over this ?

[@EtherealAriel]

What's the song at the beginning?

[@georgetau3044]

Cohodes is a star.

[@user-td7xf3gz4l]

You wouldn't trust her to walk your dog hahaha

[@dreece2000]

This guy is a dying breed. I like him

[@BatmanBoss]

Thanks

[@WTorrie4]

Mark make your own podcast!!

[@amandasmith1920]

I had a blonde moment I thought cohodes was saying that buffett secretly lives in a 40 million dollar penthouse doing drugs.

[@doctorcameltoe]

@33:00 you really out there trying to make the world a better place. kinda having a hard time with that one sir

[@karolfox473]

Thank-you

[@Kawiboy]

This was Fantastic 👏.. Got my Sub 💪👍.. OLD G 😉

[@frankstipes4114]

As the SEC , CIA , and all the rest of the "gang"....

[@tannerhedger3252]

the problem is that with crypto and "savants", you take any checklist you give an MBA and throw it out the window, or so the thinking WENT...bottom line is FOMO trumps DD every time..

[@dreece2000]

That's right, human emotion is the most addictive chemical known to man. Forgot what book I read that from.

[@hulahoop1010]

What about the Bank FTX purchased a few months ago in Wyoming the 26 smallest Bank in the US, which is illegal. The bank called Framingham Bank for 40 years had a max of 5 million on deposit, now has 85 million in Laundered Crypto The bank is now called Moonstone Bank.

[@whtwht]

Is this a fact?

[@TonyDanza4Lyfe]

If true that’s brilliant and probably why he stayed behind although I imagine they’d find it. He doesn’t seem like the type with a lot of genuine, ask a favor type friends, which I say that because if he’s in the Bahamas, I have trouble believing there was anyone on the homeland to stash away money. Maybe his dad? His dad is either straight up complicit in this or he’s straight up oblivious to any misdeeds. As a financial lawyer you have to know you can’t be accepting millions without knowing how your son made that. If he didn’t know he probably wasn’t paying that much attention to it and was probably just proud of his son and his son was probably too ashamed to talk. Or he could’ve known this was a scam from the start. But Gary is the brains no doubt in my mind. SBF was a vulnerable person going by his outfit and the moneyball gf test. He was easy prey for this man from China. Whether he’s with the cpc or just a rogue genius, he had his escape route. Maybe Gary helped SBF with advice and he thought maybe he’d rather eat a few years in jail for buried millions but judging by how he stole the remaining assets, I doubt this

[@esther1914]

Seems as though a guy thought he was going to be king, in his mind thought he could include names w influence then dropped them suddenly as if he robbed a bank. What he didn't realize is, he's did not get away w it. My understanding .

[@esther1914]

Those ppl never agreed, never signed anything. Never knew of ftx or associated. So how they did this is to be investigated.

[@nunyabizness573]

​@@esther1914Yes, but they all know crypto is an unregulated space, but when it comes to fraud they suddenly want regulations? My opinion is that the investors themselves are part of the conspiracy SBF is charged with. They knew the risk. They knew that infinity is an impossible utopia but they took the risk.

[@lauratanner8475]

Sam Bankfraud Man😆

[@brianjo5945]

lol scam bankman fraud

[@Wolfsheim23]

I can't believe people here are praising a guy that repeatedly engages in Short & Distort campaigns for ANY company that he deems weak enough not to stand up to his assassination attempts. He doesn't just look for actual fraudulent companies. He finds a company, invents a fraud, pays former employees to turn Whistlblower, and then profits off shorting the company to death.

[@nunyabizness573]

Hey, we are talking about a "space" where people use crypto currency to pay Only Fans stars like Courtney Kenny (now imprisoned for stabbing her crypto bro boyfriend in the heart,named Christian Ombuseli) and where a family annihilator named Grant Amato murdered his entire family and converted the family wealth to cryptocurrency to pay hundreds of thousands to a Ukranian web cam girl he was infatuated with. But we are supposed to by the hype that "unbanking" ourselves is the way to go. What a bunch of scammers the investors themselves are. They do not deserve their money back.

[@jimhen459]

yeah, but he called out FTX early when no one else did...

[@Wolfsheim23]

@@jimhen459 Actually no Coffeezilla did that. He did; however, call out many people he knew were dirty just to try to distract sometimes, above all the other bully and distort campaigns he led.

[@JwebGuru]

The URL uses an invalid certificate and redirects to a 404 page... I fear this business may be defunct.

[@OZcafehead]

Legend! Now do HEX which promises juicy 38% returns with no risk (for those in locked staking for the next 10 years).

[@markminister2599]

Use the proper words. Embezzlement and theft.

[@daysjours]

Fascinating

[@MrJackwork]

Sam Harvey Oswald.

[@lucytheodas9808]

The Singaporean Sovereign fund lost $377 m

[@PatchRowcester]

I just watched the most humble man on the internet explain to us why he knew another most humble altruistic man is a total fraud.

[@karolfox473]

Who trusts the SCC? Politicians are knee deep in this mess. Tell us about that.

[@nevilletaylor490]

1168 pages, you could write your autobiography with those

[@lorikennedy2601]

You are a very good man. And we need good people , of course in all times, but more now. People need to understand that we can have honest markets. The current financial tribe really are slime balls and don’t need to be immune to justice. 2008 was unusual in that the-crooks were not put in jail. It’s time to end crony capitalism and Democratic tribal justice. If we don’t we are going to end up w a society no one wants.

[@michaeldigregorio1283]

I'm not a crypto guy. I seems straight to me that anyone would put t h eir money in FTX. Good grief. Now I'm thinking about starting a crypto business.

[@joeybenoit6269]

This guy is The Wizard of Oz! He's the kid that steals your lunch in grade school!

[@user-iu3bp8os5n]

It's fine and well to discuss individuals who lost money, but how the f u c k did Philip Davis's Bahamian government NOT do due diligence before welcoming FTX with open arms? And why hasn't there been an internal investigation within the Bahamian gov't about this? Something's smells fishy.

[@frankdashwood3128]

@32:30 makes you wonder how Tether, and Goldman Sachs can still get away with printing counterfeit USD.

[@lynwoodcleaveland8704]

Cohoes for president

[@ianhowe007]

Adderall is a helluva drug

[@bettycattk5298]

Love to be this smatt!!!

[@dlions9068]

He paid 10,000 BTC for 2 pizzas delivered.

[@amyniovi8087]

its easy to speak in retrospective though right? which is what everyone is doing. When SBF was a billionaire, no one had the guts to say all that.

[@Spygal92]

❤❤❤❤❤this guy

[@lynwoodcleaveland8704]

Cohodes needs to look into blue city voting

[@mikemarshall3545]

Cohodes is the only person I trust

[@CaptBeefart1]

I started at a bad time 2020 December. I shorted myself.

[@blessings2you435]

THAT WAS A GREAT eFF'n PODCAST!! RIVITING!! FAB!! 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 PLEASE invite Mark back again. SOON! It's history in the making! BIG UPs 2 U 🎯 Spot on hosting! Just found U! New sub here!

[@joeybenoit6269]

Or the creepy old man you run away from in the park who slipped out of house arrest!

[@ThadBaldwin]

P

[@g-asplendidsavage1700]

👍👍👍

[@vincentmurphy9252]

Kinda like Cathie Woods she never she talks but it’s like what are you saying ?

[@jackiwannapaint3042]

I love the Effective Altruism angle. This is something you interest yourself in when you have made more money than you will ever spend. Until you get to that point you’re just another bullshit artist.

[@Lgca26]

Fake as a $3 dollar bill 😂😂😂

[@scorch4299]

Going after a company and trying to get them to fail seems wrong when you have a financial stake in it failing. Even if youre right.

[@cg5648]

Not when the company is a fraud, you buffoon.

[@AlternateCurrent.]

You have No clue what took place…

[@miketaye]

Come on chappy. I can tell a fraud story in hindsight too.

[@quiggleyscripple]

Cohodes was telling the story months before the scandal. Look at his track record.

[@one4320]

Did you even listen to the video?

[@elskacave3235]

Cohodes went to Bloomberg months ago with evidence of FTX fraud and the journalists passed on the story. He tried to warn investors. Complete breakdown of all the safeguards that are supposed to protect the investors.

[@Infodawg2012]

Warren Buffett takes all kinds of drugs? That is a story I want to hear. Please get this guy back for the details.

[@azwb]

I wish I seen your Hedgeeye Video. I was too late and lost it all... I can no longer help others.

[@TonyDanza4Lyfe]

Wow nobody used their brains. Gary wang made out like a champ here. You’ll never hear from him ever again. He gone.

[@69weed.420]

Of course Mark lives in Manhattan.