Mubadala Ventures Had Passed on FTX
Posted on 11/16/2022
The tweets were in reference comparing making an investment in SpaceX vs. the controversial cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Temasek International, a unit of Temasek Holdings, is prepping to write-off its investment in FTX, while Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan had exposure in FTX as well.
On November 14, 2022, Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures & Growth at Mubadala Investment Company tweeted, “We met with SBF last month as a part of the round he was raising. I found him kind, thoughtful, and smart. I did not see any signs that something was burning under the hood. We spoke at length about the state of the industry, his vision for FTX, regulation, and his role in this.”
He added, “We agreed that we will fly a team to the Bahamas to conduct DD on the company. I wanted to see another SpaceX moment. That trip never happened.”
He then tweeted, “It’s a wake-up call for the venture capital industry and for regulators globally – we need to conduct real DD, there needs to be clear systematic change in how companies are governed, we need constructive regulatory frameworks for crypto in all jurisdictions.”
