Technology
Thursday, September 5th, 2024 7:04 pm EDT
Key Points
- Orlando Bravo and his firm, Thoma Bravo, invested $130 million in FTX during its peak, but after FTX’s collapse into bankruptcy and the fraud conviction of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, Bravo declared they are permanently out of cryptocurrency investments.
- Thoma Bravo, a prominent tech investor managing $160 billion in assets, has had major success with acquisitions in technology, such as Proofpoint, RealPage, and Anaplan, and has returned $13 billion to investors, despite the FTX setback.
- While Bravo still believes in the potential of blockchain technology, he stated that after such a significant loss with FTX, his firm will avoid future investments in the cryptocurrency space.
In 2021, private equity investor Orlando Bravo described FTX as the “most cutting-edge, sophisticated cryptocurrency exchange in the world,” and his firm, Thoma Bravo, participated in a $900 million investment in FTX, valuing the company at $18 billion. However, after FTX’s dramatic collapse into bankruptcy in 2022 and the subsequent conviction of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, Bravo has declared that he and his firm are done with cryptocurrency investments. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy tied to FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research. Reflecting on this major loss, Bravo stated that once his firm experiences a mistake of such magnitude, they move on and do not revisit that investment area, even if it means missing future growth.
Thoma Bravo, a San Francisco-based firm, has built a reputation as a major technology investor, orchestrating billion-dollar acquisitions of companies such as Proofpoint, RealPage, Anaplan, and Coupa. In recent years, the firm has seen successful exits, including the sale of Imperva for $3.6 billion in 2023 and Barracuda Networks for $4 billion in 2022. In total, Thoma Bravo returned nearly $13 billion to its investors last year, and today, it manages approximately $160 billion in assets.
At the time of their FTX investment, the cryptocurrency market was surging, and Bankman-Fried was considered a visionary, having built one of the largest crypto exchanges in just two years. Thoma Bravo’s $130 million investment reflected confidence in FTX’s future, with Bravo expressing enthusiasm about partnering with the company to grow the crypto ecosystem. However, by late 2022, FTX had collapsed to zero value amid accusations that executives had misappropriated over $8 billion in customer funds.
Despite this, Bravo maintains a belief in the potential of blockchain technology, describing it as a powerful tool for various applications. However, when it comes to investing in cryptocurrencies or companies in the space, Bravo is taking a cautious stance. He emphasized that after such a significant failure, it’s best to move on and avoid the same space, even though the underlying technology still holds promise for the future.
For the full original article on CNBC, please click here: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/05/thoma-bravo-founder-will-never-touch-crypto-again-after-ftx-disaster.html
