Tom Brady’s business empire faces FTX drama after NFL retirement – AI Tech News

Tom Brady could face a bumpy financial retirement as the NFL legend struggles to unravel his budding business empire of struggling crypto businesses, including doomed exchange FTX.

Brady, 45, gave no immediate indication of his post-football plans while confirming he was “retiring for good” in a 53-second video announcement posted to his social media accounts on Wednesday.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion is embroiled in legal drama after serving as a top booster and brand ambassador for FTX, whose disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried is accused of defrauding billions of customers.

Brady and his ex-wife Gisele Bundchen were among a group of famous FTX endorsers named in a class action lawsuit last November. The lawsuit alleges that FTX used Brady and other famous backers to lure unsuspecting investors into what was effectively a Ponzi scheme.

Brady also co-founded the NFT Autograph marketplace – a platform that once had Bankman-Fried as a board member and garnered steady investor interest before a tech-sector meltdown rocked various focused startups. on cryptography.

Autograph did not avoid the industry slump. In December, the Brady-backed startup cited “market challenges” after laying off “dozens” of employees, Reported Insider. Bankman-Fried’s name also quietly disappeared from Autograph’s website, although the exact timing of his exit from the board of directors is unclear.

Brady was at the center of FTX’s marketing efforts – once appearing in a 4th of July video in which he used a flamethrower to melt a block of ice with a cryptocurrency token inside. When FTX filed for bankruptcy, Brady quietly deleted all of his company-related tweets.

Last month, court documents revealed that Brady owned more than 1.1 million common shares of FTX at the time of its bankruptcy, while Bündchen held more than 686,000 common shares. Forbes estimated Brady’s stake was worth $45 million before the collapse of FTX rendered it worthless.

In December, longtime New England Patriots fan Michael Livieratos sued Brady, alleging the NFL legend’s involvement with FTX caused him to dump almost all of his life savings on the platform. bankrupt.

FTX

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Struggling crypto businesses are just one consideration for Brady, who has turned his success on the court into one of the most lucrative brands in American sports history. He is the NFL’s all-time earning leader, with more than $500 million in total earnings on and off the field, according to Forbes calculations.

During his 23-year NFL career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady earned more than $332 million in salary and bonuses, according to Spotrac.

Brady already has a lucrative TV gig in the form of a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox Sports. Signed last year, the deal was set to kick in whenever Brady hung up his boots and make him the highest-paid sportscaster of all time.

Brady expressed his excitement for a potential future in broadcasting during a recent episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast.

“I have the opportunity to have a job in the future where I can travel and learn from all the other people I’ve looked up to and looked up to and different organizations and different people,” Brady said. “So that’s exciting for me too. I feel like the opportunity to do that is something I look forward to whenever that time comes.

Elsewhere, Brady has his own fitness and lifestyle brand, TB12. Brady’s portfolio includes a slew of endorsements from notable brands like Subway, Hertz, and Under Armour.

The NFL legend has also tried his hand at Hollywood. He is set to star alongside famed actresses Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field in the upcoming comedy ’80 For Brady’, which is slated for release later this year. The film is produced by 199 Productions, a company founded by Brady.