Shaquille O’Neal has reached a settlement agreement with a group of FTX investors who accused him of enabling a failed Crypto Exchange fraud by acting as a celebrity promoter, according to court filings.
Details of the settlement agreement, including the amounts paid by O’Neal, have not yet been revealed. The plaintiffs in this case are seeking damages of up to $21 billion in total losses from O’Neal and other promoters, former executives and other insiders.
Former basketball star-turned business mogul was just one of the celebrity promoters named for his class action suit. Other athletes, including tennis player Naomi Osaka, baseball player Shohai Otani, basketball player Steph Curry and retired football player Tom Brady, were also appointed as defendants along with comedian Larry David. Shark Tank Star Kevin O’Leary and model Gisele Bundchen.
O’Neill is the first well-known defendant in the case that settled Wednesday, but seven other celebrity promoters and former executives reached a settlement agreement with investors in 2023, including Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, YouTubers Tom Nash, Graham Stephen and Andrei Ziff. The initial tranche of the settlement is relatively small, totaling $1.4 million.
O’Neal’s settlement with FTX investors is not linked for the first time with promotions in failed crypto projects. Last year, O’Neal and some of his associates agreed to pay $11 million to Astral’s inappropriate token (NFT) holders who lost money on a Solana-based project he founded and promoted.
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