John J. Ray III
{{Short description|American lawyer and executive (born 1959)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John J. Ray III
| image = John Ray House Testimony.jpg
| caption = Testifying to the United States House Committee on Financial Services, December 2022
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1959|01}}
| education = University of Massachusetts Amherst (BA)
Drake University (JD)
| occupation = Attorney, CEO of FTX
}}
John J. Ray III (born January 1959){{cite web |title=John RAY personal appointments |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/K1KoshykLQV6ewAE7dwll9uf7Zo/appointments |publisher=Companies House |access-date=November 18, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118085455/https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/K1KoshykLQV6ewAE7dwll9uf7Zo/appointments |url-status=live }} is an American attorney and CEO who specializes in recovering funds from failed corporations.{{Cite news |date=November 17, 2022 |title=New FTX chief slams 'complete failure of corporate controls' at crypto exchange |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7e81ed85-8849-4070-a4e4-450195df08d7 |access-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117132249/https://www.ft.com/content/7e81ed85-8849-4070-a4e4-450195df08d7 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/ftxs-new-ceo-helped-bolster-enron-victims-recovery-2022-11-15/ |title=FTX's new CEO helped bolster Enron victims' recovery |first1=Dietrich |last1=Knauth |first2=Brendan |last2=Pierson |work=Reuters |date=November 15, 2022 |access-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116015552/https://www.reuters.com/technology/ftxs-new-ceo-helped-bolster-enron-victims-recovery-2022-11-15/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Ben |title=Does FTX's New CEO Have the Worst Job in Corporate America? |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ftx-john-ray-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-crypto-11671049903 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=January 7, 2023 |archive-date=January 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107142353/https://www.wsj.com/articles/ftx-john-ray-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-crypto-11671049903 |url-status=live }} He was appointed CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in the aftermath of its November 2022 collapse. He previously served as chairman of Enron Creditors Recovery Corp., a company tasked with recovering creditor funds from Enron in the wake of its accounting scandal and subsequent collapse.{{Cite web|url=https://news.bloombergtax.com/crypto/enrons-liquidator-to-oversee-ftxs-massive-crypto-bankruptcy|title=Enron's Liquidator to Oversee FTX's Massive Crypto Bankruptcy|work=Bloomberg Tax|date=November 11, 2022|access-date=November 17, 2022|archive-date=November 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117050826/https://news.bloombergtax.com/crypto/enrons-liquidator-to-oversee-ftxs-massive-crypto-bankruptcy|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-ftx-ceo-unwound-enron-and-other-major-corporate-failures-11668473055|title=New FTX CEO Unwound Enron and Other Major Corporate Failures|first=Jonathan|last=Randles|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=November 15, 2022|via=www.wsj.com|access-date=November 17, 2022|archive-date=November 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117044655/https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-ftx-ceo-unwound-enron-and-other-major-corporate-failures-11668473055|url-status=live}}
Early life and education
Ray grew up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He is the son of union plumber John J. Ray Jr. and his wife Florence. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst cum laude and Drake University Law School second in his class making the Dean's List.{{cite web |title=John James Ray Jr. |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/berkshire/name/john-ray-obituary?id=26723340 |website=Legacy.com |access-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118074250/https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/berkshire/name/john-ray-obituary?id=26723340 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Sachdev |first1=Ameet |title='Pit bull' fights to pick up Enron's pieces |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-11-04-0711030650-story.html |date=November 4, 2007 |access-date=November 18, 2022 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111142946/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-11-04-0711030650-story.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Parnass |first1=Larry |title=This St. Joseph's grad is in charge of what remains of FTX |url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/john-ray-iii-ftx-ceo-pittsfield-massachusetts-cryptocurrency-collapse-ryan-salame/article_1ebadaf6-6cf4-11ed-93b5-0f91b29ee575.html |access-date=November 26, 2022 |work=The Berkshire Eagle |language=en |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126100235/https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/john-ray-iii-ftx-ceo-pittsfield-massachusetts-cryptocurrency-collapse-ryan-salame/article_1ebadaf6-6cf4-11ed-93b5-0f91b29ee575.html |url-status=live }}
Career
Ray started his career at Touche Ross, an accounting firm that later merged into Deloitte, before moving to the law firm Mayer Brown in 1984 and then to Waste Management. Soon after he was hired as general counsel of Fruit of the Loom in 1998, the clothing company posted massive losses and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, with Ray managing the sale of the firm's assets.{{Cite news |last=Sachdev |first=Ameet |date=November 3, 2007 |title='Pit bull' fights to pick up Enron's pieces |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-11-04-0711030650-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111142946/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-11-04-0711030650-story.html |archive-date=November 11, 2022}}
Having led one reorganization, Ray formed Avidity Partners LLC, a firm specializing in serving as a receiver, trustee and claims agent in insolvency proceedings. Clients included AbitibiBowater, National Century Financial Enterprises, and Pac-West Telecomm.{{Cite news |last=Hallman |first=Ben |date=May 1, 2008 |title=John Ray III has Collected Billions for Enron's Creditors |work=The American Lawyer |url=https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/almID/900005634230/ |access-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226204110/https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/almID/900005634230/ |url-status=live }} He formed a new firm, Greylock Partners, providing similar services to Nortel, Residential Capital, Overseas Shipholding and others. In 2019, Greylock changed its name to Owl Hill Advisory.{{Cite news |last=Ray |first=John |date=April 19, 2019 |title=POST-CONFIRMATION QUARTERLY SUMMARY REPORT No. 8 (UNAUDITED |url=http://www.nortel-us.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Post-Confirmation-Quarterly-Summary-Report-No.-8-4_22_19.pdf |access-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819200901/http://www.nortel-us.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Post-Confirmation-Quarterly-Summary-Report-No.-8-4_22_19.pdf |url-status=live }}
After Enron emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004, Ray was appointed to chair the effort to recover assets for creditors through litigation against numerous banks. He served in that role through 2009. Under Ray’s leadership, the company returned $828.9 million to its creditors, which Ray said was nearly 52 cents on the dollar.
Starting in 2010, Ray was the principal officer of the bankrupt Canadian telecommunications company Nortel.
In 2014, Ray was appointed as an independent board member for GT Advanced Technologies.
In 2016, Ray managed a trust which liquidated the assets of the major subprime mortgage services company Residential Capital.
When cryptocurrency company FTX declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, Ray was appointed to succeed Sam Bankman-Fried as the company's CEO.{{Cite news |title='Complete failure of corporate controls' at FTX, says new CEO |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/11/17/complete-failure-of-corporate-controls-at-ftx-says-new-ceo |date=November 17, 2022 |work=Al Jazeera |agency=Reuters |accessdate=November 19, 2022 |archive-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118213138/https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/11/17/complete-failure-of-corporate-controls-at-ftx-says-new-ceo |url-status=live }} Six days later, in a filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Ray stated that in over 40 years of his experience in dealing with insolvencies, he had never encountered "such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here".{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/ftx-ceo-shreds-bankman-fried-never-seen-such-a-failure-of-controls-.html|title=Never seen 'such a complete failure' of corporate controls, says new FTX CEO who also oversaw Enron bankruptcy|first=Rohan|last=Goswami|website=CNBC|date=November 17, 2022|access-date=November 17, 2022|archive-date=November 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117160338/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/ftx-ceo-shreds-bankman-fried-never-seen-such-a-failure-of-controls-.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/business/ftx-bankruptcy.html|title=New Chief Calls FTX's Corporate Control a 'Complete Failure'|date=November 17, 2022|newspaper=The New York Times|first1=David|last1=Yaffe-Bellany|access-date=November 17, 2022|archive-date=November 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117162336/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/business/ftx-bankruptcy.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/ftx-used-corporate-funds-to-purchase-employee-homes-new-filing-shows.html|title=FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows|first=Rohan|last=Goswami|website=CNBC|date=November 17, 2022|access-date=November 18, 2022|archive-date=November 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117234524/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/ftx-used-corporate-funds-to-purchase-employee-homes-new-filing-shows.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Ray |first=John Jay |date=November 17, 2022 |title=Declaration Of John J. Ray III In Support Of Chapter 11 Petitions And First Day Pleadings|work=United States Bankruptcy Court For The District Of Delaware|url=https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rgJS1JHEf2XE/v0 |access-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117164922/https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rgJS1JHEf2XE/v0 |archive-date=November 17, 2022 |url-status=live}} In addition, he stated that FTX was managed by "a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals".{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Khristopher J. |date=November 17, 2022 |title=FTX's new CEO: "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure" |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/ftx-bankruptcy-john-ray-ceo-failure/ |access-date=November 24, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123142824/https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/ftx-bankruptcy-john-ray-ceo-failure/ |url-status=live }}
According to FTX's court disclosures, the company pays Ray $1,300 per hour and a $200,000 retainer fee.{{cite news |title=FTX businesses owe more than $3bn to largest creditors |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5d826ca9-389e-41ec-a38b-da43211da974 |access-date=November 20, 2022 |work=Financial Times |date=November 20, 2022 |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120174522/https://www.ft.com/content/5d826ca9-389e-41ec-a38b-da43211da974 |url-status=live }}
References
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Category:People from Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Category:Bankruptcy in the United States
Category:American chief executives of financial services companies
Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:21st-century American businesspeople
Category:Businesspeople from Chicago
Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni