Ryan Salame
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Ryan Salame
| nationality = American
| criminal_penalty = 7.5 years (90 months) in prison
| employer = FTX
| education = University of Massachusetts Amherst
| conviction = Conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions
Conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business
| criminal_status = Incarcerated at FCI Cumberland, a medium-security federal prison in Maryland{{cite web |last1=Hetzner |first1=Christiaan |title=Convicted FTX exec announces his ‘new role’ at Maryland prison on LinkedIn |url=https://fortune.com/2024/10/11/ftx-linkedin-ryan-salame-prison/ |website=Fortune |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Intarasuwan • • |first1=Kiki |title=Ex-FTX exec who helped finance lover's congress run in NY updates LinkedIn job to ‘inmate' |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ryan-salaman-linkedin-ftx-michelle-bond/5879512/ |website=NBC New York |date=11 October 2024}}
| image =
}}
{{Short description|American business executive}}
Ryan Salame (born {{birth year|1993}}){{Cite tweet |number=1796009919490998578 |user=rsalame7926 |title=1993 my god |first=Ryan |last=Salame |date=May 29, 2024 |access-date=May 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530153258/https://twitter.com/x/migrate?tok=7b2265223a222f7273616c616d65373932362f7374617475732f31373936303039393139343930393938353738222c2274223a313731373038333137387d516eb7308c0b43c342f4b4c78f57d327 |archive-date=May 30, 2024}} is an American entrepreneur who operated an illegal money-transmitting business. He was the CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the FTX subsidiary based in the Bahamas. He was the founder of the American Dream Federal Action super PAC.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/business/ftx-ryan-salame.html|title=Restaurateur, Political Donor, Tipster: The Many Roles of FTX's Ryan Salame|first1=Matthew|last1=Goldstein|first2=Kenneth P.|last2=Vogel|first3=David|last3=Yaffe-Bellany|date=December 17, 2022|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=December 20, 2022|archive-date=December 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220072220/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/business/ftx-ryan-salame.html|url-status=live}}
Early life and education
Salame grew up in Sandisfield, Massachusetts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/ryan-salame-lenox-ftx-collapse-loan-bankruptcy/article_13f413bc-66af-11ed-837e-db7d7b67db78.html|title=His crypto firm loaned Berkshires native Ryan Salame $55 million. The FTX unit he led is under new management|first=Larry|last=Parnass|website=The Berkshire Eagle|date=November 17, 2022 |access-date=November 18, 2022|archive-date=November 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117225420/https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/ryan-salame-lenox-ftx-collapse-loan-bankruptcy/article_13f413bc-66af-11ed-837e-db7d7b67db78.html|url-status=live}} He attended high school at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington.{{Cite news |last=Fanto |first=Clarence |date=November 30, 2021 |title=At 28, Bitcoin tycoon Ryan Salame owns nearly half the full-service restaurants in Lenox |url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/business/sandisfield-native-ryan-salame-cryptocurrency-lenox-restaurant-empire/article_8d2a2cc2-5205-11ec-af1b-d769f18cf13c.html |work=The Berkshire Eagle |access-date=October 11, 2023 |archive-date=August 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815060535/https://www.berkshireeagle.com/business/sandisfield-native-ryan-salame-cryptocurrency-lenox-restaurant-empire/article_8d2a2cc2-5205-11ec-af1b-d769f18cf13c.html |url-status=live }} He earned Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Isenberg School of Management{{Cite web |last=Wanna |first=Carly |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Former FTX exec Ryan Salame invested $6 million in Massachusetts restaurants - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/15/business/former-ftx-co-ceo-ryan-salame-invested-6-million-massachusetts-restaurants/ |access-date=September 26, 2023 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US |archive-date=December 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219101009/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/15/business/former-ftx-co-ceo-ryan-salame-invested-6-million-massachusetts-restaurants/ |url-status=live }} and also Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2015. He later received a master's in finance from McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/people/ryan-salame|title=Ryan Salame : Isenberg School of Management : UMass Amherst|website=www.isenberg.umass.edu|access-date=November 18, 2022|archive-date=November 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118001415/https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/people/ryan-salame|url-status=live}}
Career
Salame worked briefly for Ernst & Young. In 2019, he started working for Alameda Research in Hong Kong. He later became co-chief of FTX Digital Markets, FTX's Bahamas unit.{{Cite news |date=September 8, 2023 |title=Another FTX executive Ryan Salame pleads guilty |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66747694 |access-date=September 26, 2023 |archive-date=September 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926202638/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66747694 |url-status=live }}
During the primaries of the 2022 United States elections, Salame donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates.{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ryan-salame-pandemic-preparedness-ted-budd-katie-britt-bo-hines-2022-9|title=Crypto donor dead set on preventing the next global pandemic gave millions to Trump-backed candidates who opposed COVID regulations to court MAGA base|first=Warren|last=Rojas|website=Business Insider|access-date=November 12, 2022|archive-date=November 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112213528/https://www.businessinsider.com/ryan-salame-pandemic-preparedness-ted-budd-katie-britt-bo-hines-2022-9|url-status=live}}
Salame invested over $6 million in Lenox, Massachusetts restaurants and real estate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/ryan-salame-cryptocurrency-ftx-lenox-eats/article_88218650-61de-11ed-9662-ffcf0494adbe.html|title=Crypto meltdown: What does it mean for FTX executive Ryan Salame's $6 million investment in Lenox?|first=Clarence Fanto, Eagle|last=correspondent|website=The Berkshire Eagle|date=November 11, 2022 |access-date=November 12, 2022|archive-date=November 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112213800/https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/ryan-salame-cryptocurrency-ftx-lenox-eats/article_88218650-61de-11ed-9662-ffcf0494adbe.html|url-status=live}}
During the 2022 bankruptcy proceedings of FTX, it was revealed that the company loaned Salame $55 million. Salame’s girlfriend Michelle Bond received $400,000 in consulting fees from FTX Digital Markets.{{Cite web|url=https://www.insider.com/ftx-bahamas-michelle-bond-ryan-salame-bankman-fried-girlfriend-400000-2022-11|title=FTX's Bahamas unit paid co-CEO's MAGA Republican congressional candidate girlfriend $400,000|first=Nick|last=Robins-Early|website=Insider}} Salame claimed to have learned about the impending collapse of FTX in the week before it filed for bankruptcy and to have vomited upon hearing the news.{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ftx-collapse-digital-markets-ryan-salame-vomit-bankman-fried-2022-11|title=An executive at an FTX affiliate threw up when he learnt of the crypto exchange's impending collapse, report says|first=Grace|last=Dean|website=Business Insider|access-date=November 17, 2022|archive-date=November 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117162049/https://www.businessinsider.com/ftx-collapse-digital-markets-ryan-salame-vomit-bankman-fried-2022-11|url-status=live}} In April 2023 the FBI raided Salame’s Potomac, Maryland home.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/technology/ftx-ryan-salame-sam-bankman-fried.html|title=F.B.I. Searches Home of Top FTX Executive|first1=Matthew|last1=Goldstein|first2=David|last2=Yaffe-Bellany|work=The New York Times |date=April 27, 2023|via=NYTimes.com|access-date=May 14, 2023|archive-date=May 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513154912/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/technology/ftx-ryan-salame-sam-bankman-fried.html|url-status=live}}
In September 2023, he pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws and operating an illegal money-transmitting business. He agreed to forfeit two properties in Lenox, MA and a Porsche automobile, and pay a $6 million fine and more than $5 million in restitution to FTX.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/technology/ftx-guilty-plea.html|title=Fourth Top FTX Executive Pleads Guilty Ahead of Sam Bankman-Fried Trial|first1=David|last1=Yaffe-Bellany|first2=Matthew|last2=Goldstein|work=The New York Times |date=September 7, 2023|via=NYTimes.com|access-date=September 8, 2023|archive-date=September 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908161551/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/technology/ftx-guilty-plea.html|url-status=live}} Despite prosecutors recommending a term of 5-7 years, in May 2024 Salame was sentenced to 7.5 years in federal prison.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-28 |title=Southern District of New York {{!}} Former FTX Executive Ryan Salame Sentenced To 90 Months In Prison {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-ftx-executive-ryan-salame-sentenced-90-months-prison |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}
As of October 2024, he is incarcerated at FCI Cumberland in Maryland.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=FTX’s Ryan Salame's Crazy LinkedIn Update: “New Position as Inmate” |url=https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/ftxs-ryan-salames-crazy-linkedin-update-new-position-as-inmate/ |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Financial and Business News {{!}} Finance Magnates |language=en}}
Before incarceration, he gave an interview on Tucker Carlson YouTube channel, and claimed innocence. Tucker Carlson supported him.
References
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Category:Isenberg School of Management alumni
Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni
Category:McDonough School of Business alumni
Category:Georgetown University alumni
Category:21st-century American criminals
Category:American male criminals
Category:American businesspeople convicted of crimes
Category:American people convicted of fraud