Former FTX US President Brett Harrison posted a 49-part Twitter thread explaining why he left the firm and his relationship with FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). Prior to his role at FTX US, Harrison worked with SBF on Jane Street and prior to joining FTX, he worked for Citadel Securities. In the Twitter thread, the former president of the US subsidiary explained that his “relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried and his associates had reached a point of total deterioration, after months of disputes over management practices at FTX.”
Brett Harrison’s Deteriorating Relationship With FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Leads To Resignation
it’s January 14, 2023, Brett Harrisonthe former president of FTX USAshared his personal account from his experience working at FTX US, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, for seventeen months. Harrison described his days with the US exchange in a 49-part Twitter thread that goes into great detail. Initially, Harrison was excited to join the company, but over time, his relationship with the company’s CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), soured due to disputes over management practices.
“Six months into my time with the company, pronounced cracks began to form in my own relationship with Sam,” Harrison said. “At that time, I began to strongly advocate for establishing the separation and independence of the FTX US executive, legal, and developer teams, and Sam disagreed.”
Despite facing immense pressure, Harrison persisted in disagreeing with the FTX CEO, whose influence over various industries was pervasive and uncompromising. Harrison said others at FTX US shared his disagreement with the CEO and his inner circle, as he commented that they were a team of seasoned professionals from reputable US finance, law and regulated exchange firms.
“Our collective experience and professional insight was often treated as irrelevant and worthless. It was extremely frustrating for all of us,” Harrison insisted. Harrison added:
Sam was uncomfortable with the conflict. He responded sometimes with unregulated hostility, sometimes with gaslighting and manipulation, but ultimately he chose to insulate me from communication about key decision making.
Harrison resigned from FTX on September 27, 2022, following attempts to address organizational issues at the company.
Ultimately, Harrison decided to leave the company and founded his own firm because he felt the “dream job” of working at FTX US was not worth it due to the deteriorating relationship with SBF. Harrison said that SBF’s behavior and decisions were influenced by insecurity and volatile temperament.
In early April 2022, Harrison made one last attempt to address the organizational issues at FTX US by filing a formal complaint. In response, Bankman-Fried threatened to fire him and destroy his professional reputation if he did not retract his complaint and apologize. This event solidified Harrison’s decision to leave the company. He wanted to make sure the company was well positioned for success after his departure, so he left the company in an orderly fashion.
1/ An announcement: I resign as president of @FTX_Official. In the coming months, I will transfer my responsibilities and assume an advisory role in the company.
—Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) September 27, 2022
“So I gradually scaled back, finished building and releasing the US broker, and saw the FTX US employees through their mid-year reviews,” Harrison said. “I could never have guessed that behind these types of problems… that I had seen in other more mature firms in my career and believed were not fatal to business success… was a multi-billion dollar fraud” Harrison commented.
Harrison added that he has received apologies from many people who know he was not involved in the criminal scheme. He learned a lot about the industry in the last few months, some people treated him differently while others offered sympathy and support. He also mentions that it will be hard to forget the frantic and unsubstantiated accusations that have been leveled at him on social media.
When Harrison left FTX US last year, SBF told Bloomberg that the departure of the executive had been brewing for “a short time.” The news outlet also asked SBF about his own succession plans, with the FTX CEO saying at the time that he had no plans to leave FTX and that he would be there “for the long haul.”
What do you think about Harrison’s experience at FTX US? Let us know what he thinks on this topic in the comments section below.
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