The FTX bankruptcy saga is racking up a bill that’s closing in on $1 billion, cementing its spot as one of the costliest Chapter 11 cases in U.S. history. Court filings show legal and financial firms have pocketed nearly $948 million so far, with over $952 million in fees rubber-stamped—eye-watering numbers that still promise a silver lining: most customers could see 118% of their claims back, a rare win in bankruptcy land, per Bloomberg.
Why the hefty price tag? It’s all about untangling a messy web of billions in assets scattered across countless accounts. Lawyers and money wizards have been the muscle behind clawing back the cash, with hedge funds scooping up discounted FTX claims cashing in big. Distributions to creditors kicked off last week, but the hunt for more loot’s still on.
Sullivan & Cromwell, FTX’s top legal guns, have hauled in over $248 million, while financial outfit Alvarez & Marsal’s nabbed about $306 million. Another firm juggling customer claims has billed $110 million. Sullivan & Cromwell’s no stranger to high-stakes chaos—they steered the U.S. Treasury and big banks through the 2008 meltdown, brokered JPMorgan’s Bear Stearns grab, propped up AIG’s bailout, and even picked through Enron’s wreckage back in the day.
FTX’s tab dwarfs other crypto flops—Celsius, Genesis, BlockFi, and Voyager Digital combined racked up just $502 million in costs. And there’s more drama brewing, like a $1.8 billion lawsuit against Binance still in play. Still, FTX’s billion-dollar burn is peanuts next to Lehman Brothers’ $6 billion bankruptcy blowout, the priciest U.S. case on record, says Bloomberg. For FTX, it’s a wild ride of sky-high bills and a rare shot at making creditors (mostly) whole.
