Caroline Ellison, the former co-CEO of Alameda Research, reached a settlement agreement with FTX debtors, agreeing to turn over most of her assets to help settle a lawsuit filed against her by the FTX bankruptcy estate.
According to a filing by FTX Trading Ltd. on Monday, Ellison will transfer “substantially all of her assets” that are not forfeited to the government or used to cover legal fees.
Ellison, who pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in December 2022 following the collapse of FTX, has mostly stayed out of the public eye since her testimony at the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried in October 2023.
Ellison also agreed to cooperate extensively with the FTX bankruptcy estate in its ongoing investigations. FTX filed for bankruptcy in late 2022, and the debtors sued Ellison, Sam Bankman-Fried, and several other former executives to recover assets. The litigation targets include about $22.5 million in bonus payments to Ellison in February 2022 and an additional $6.3 million paid to her in 2021.
Following the settlement, FTX stated that Ellison will have no remaining assets except for some physical personal property. Judge John Dorsey in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware recently approved FTX’s reorganization plan, with around 94% of creditors voting in favor.
Last month, Ellison was sentenced to two years for her involvement in the collapse of FTX, which resulted in massive losses for its users. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in March and was ordered to repay up to $11 billion in investor and lender losses. Moreover, FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame is set to begin a 90-month sentence on October 13, though his lawyers are contesting his guilty plea.
Meanwhile, former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh and co-founder Gary Wang, who also pleaded guilty, are scheduled for sentencing on October 30 and November 20, respectively. Wang’s hearing is expected to be the last in the FTX case.
Ellison has been cooperative with investigators, helping the FTX bankruptcy estate recover hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. In a September filing, John J. Ray III, CEO of the FTX bankruptcy estate, praised her assistance, stating that her cooperation benefited creditors.
