Gary Wang (American businessman)
{{Short description|Co-founder of FTX}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gary Wang
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_place = China
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| education = Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS)
| occupation = Computer programmer
Entrepreneur
| years_active =
| known_for = FTX
| notable_works =
}}
Gary Wang (born {{circa|1993}}) is an American computer programmer who co-founded the crypto currency exchange FTX with Sam Bankman-Fried. At the height of his success in 2022, Wang was ranked the 227th richest American in the Forbes 400, and the 431st richest person in the world by The World's Billionaires.{{cite web |title=Gary Wang |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/gary-wang-1/?sh=40c50c15519d |website=Forbes |access-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230170155/https://www.forbes.com/profile/gary-wang-1/?sh=40c50c15519d |url-status=live }} After FTX collapsed into bankruptcy, caused by massive fraud perpetrated by Wang, Bankman-Fried and a few others, Wang plea bargained a guilty charge in exchange for testifying against his former college roommate and FTX cofounder, Bankman-Fried.{{Cite book |last1=Mckenzie |first1=Ben |title=Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud |last2=Silverman |first2=Jacob |publisher=Abrams Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-4197-6639-8 |location=New York, New York |pages=235 |language=English}} Before co-founding FTX, Wang worked at Google Flights, building systems for the aggregation of ticket prices.
Early life and education
Wang was born in China and moved to the U.S. when he was 8-years-old with his parents. He graduated in 2011 from Cherry Hill High School East in New Jersey.{{Cite web|title=We found Gary Wang. Here's what we know.|url=https://eastside-online.org/news/we-found-gary-wang-heres-what-we-know/|last1=Boiskin|first1=Asher|last2=Zhang|first2=Alena|last3=Lampf|first3=Brielle|access-date=January 12, 2023|website=Eastside Online|archive-date=January 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112233808/https://eastside-online.org/news/we-found-gary-wang-heres-what-we-know/|url-status=live}} He attended Canada/USA Mathcamp, where he met his future classmate and cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried in 2010.{{Cite web |last=Nolan |first=Beatrice |title=Gary Wang, the mysterious FTX cofounder, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Here's what we know about the key player in the failed crypto empire. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/gary-wang-ftx-mysterious-cofounder-crypto-2022-12 |access-date=December 25, 2022 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=December 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224030325/https://www.businessinsider.com/gary-wang-ftx-mysterious-cofounder-crypto-2022-12 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Gura |first=David |date=October 21, 2023 |title=They were Sam Bankman-Fried's friends. Now they could send him to prison for life |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/10/21/1207143248/sam-bankman-fried-trial-ftx-crypto-fraud-alameda#:~:text=Each%20former%20executive%20%E2%80%94%20Caroline%20Ellison,they%20were%20also%20close%20friends. |access-date=October 23, 2023 |archive-date=October 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023115724/https://www.npr.org/2023/10/21/1207143248/sam-bankman-fried-trial-ftx-crypto-fraud-alameda#:~:text=Each%20former%20executive%20%E2%80%94%20Caroline%20Ellison,they%20were%20also%20close%20friends. |url-status=live }} After high school, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied mathematics and computer science.{{Cite web |title=Gary Wang |url=https://garywang.scripts.mit.edu/ |access-date=December 25, 2022 |website=garywang.scripts.mit.edu |archive-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205151943/https://garywang.scripts.mit.edu/ |url-status=live }} At MIT, he was the roommate of Sam Bankman-Fried for three years, and he was a member of Epsilon Theta, a coed fraternity that also included Bankman-Fried.{{Cite web |last=Gardizy |first=Anissa |title=Here's what you need to know about Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang agreeing to plead guilty to FTX charges - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/22/business/caroline-ellison-gary-wang-agreed-plead-guilty-ftx-charges-heres-what-know-about-crypto-meltdown-whats-next/ |access-date=December 25, 2022 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US |archive-date=December 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225033157/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/22/business/caroline-ellison-gary-wang-agreed-plead-guilty-ftx-charges-heres-what-know-about-crypto-meltdown-whats-next/ |url-status=live }} After graduating from MIT, he worked at Google Flights, building systems for the aggregation of ticket prices.{{Cite web |title=Gary Wang |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/gary-wang-1/ |access-date=December 25, 2022 |website=Forbes |language=en}} When Bankman-Fried cofounded Alameda Research in 2017, Wang reportedly left his role at Google to join his former roommate in that business. In 2019, Bankman-Fried and Wang cofounded FTX.
FTX
At FTX, he was the chief technology officer. He was the second-largest shareholder of FTX at the time of the collapse of the company. Wang owned 17% of FTX and 10% of Alameda Research, a sister firm of FTX and co-founded by Bankman-Fried.{{Cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Matthew |last2=Stevenson |first2=Alexandra |last3=Farrell |first3=Maureen |last4=Yaffe-Bellany |first4=David |date=November 18, 2022 |title=How FTX's Sister Firm Brought the Crypto Exchange Down |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/business/ftx-alameda-ties.html |access-date=October 24, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118181947/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/business/ftx-alameda-ties.html |url-status=live }} Wang was a somewhat reclusive figure, per reports. He was described as brilliant "beyond belief", and so integral that if he left FTX it would collapse. He was happiest when computer programming from home. According to an interview with his parents, Wang "wasn't interested in the communication or management parts of the company. He was only interested in his part of work, [which was] coding.”{{cite web |url=https://eastside-online.org/news/we-found-gary-wang-heres-what-we-know-part-3/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230115021957/https://eastside-online.org/news/we-found-gary-wang-heres-what-we-know-part-3/ |archive-date=2023-01-15 |url-status=live |title=Exclusive Interview With Crypto-Mogul Gary Wang's Parents |work=Eastside Online |date=January 13, 2023 |first=Alena |last=Zhang |access-date=2024-01-25 }}
On December 18, 2022, Wang pleaded guilty in a plea bargain{{Cite web |last=Goswami |first=MacKenzie Sigalos,Rohan |date=December 22, 2022 |title=FTX's Gary Wang, Alameda's Caroline Ellison plead guilty to federal charges, cooperating with prosecutors |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/22/ftxs-gary-wang-alamedas-caroline-ellison-plead-guilty-to-federal-charges-cooperating-with-prosecutors.html |access-date=August 27, 2023 |website=CNBC |language=en |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827095221/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/22/ftxs-gary-wang-alamedas-caroline-ellison-plead-guilty-to-federal-charges-cooperating-with-prosecutors.html |url-status=live }} in the Southern District of New York to wire fraud and three counts of conspiracy involving wire, securities and commodities fraud relating to helping Bankman-Fried defraud FTX customers, for which SBF was later sentenced to 25 years in prison. His lawyer, Ilan Graff, stated that "Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/technology/ftx-fraud-guilty-pleas.html|title=Two Executives in Sam Bankman-Fried's Crypto Empire Plead Guilty to Fraud |first1=David|last1=Yaffe-Bellany|first2=Matthew |last2=Goldstein |first3=Benjamin |last3=Weiser |date=December 21, 2022|newspaper=The New York Times |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222193119/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/technology/ftx-fraud-guilty-pleas.html |archivedate=December 22, 2022 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Newmyer |first1=Tory |last2=Jacobs |first2=Shayna |date=December 21, 2022 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/21/caroline-ellison-fraud-charges/ |title=Two Bankman-Fried colleagues plead guilty to fraud |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 22, 2022 |archive-date=December 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222164741/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/21/caroline-ellison-fraud-charges/ |url-status=live }}
As part of his plea bargain, Wang testified in United States v. Sam Bankman-Fried that "with some simple tweaks to computer code," he helped Alameda Research misappropriate as much as $65 billion from FTX customers and that he "lied about this to the public." He said he was directed to alter FTX's code between 2019 and 2022 despite knowing that it would give Alameda Research "special privileges."