A newly filed lawsuit alleges that the FTX Foundation plans to use the island nation of Nauru as a safe haven for influential philanthropists for “certain events where 50% – 99.99% of people die”.
According to a lawsuit filed by FTX’s current management, plans to use the island as a giant doomsday bunker were discussed between the exchange’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, his brother Gabrielle Bankman-Fried, and another unnamed official of the FTX Foundation.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleged that the three were “working on a plan to purchase the sovereign nation of Nauru to build a ‘bunker/shelter’ that would be used for ‘an event where 50% – 99.99% of people die.'”
The goal of the plan was reportedly to “ensure that most EAs (effective philanthropists) survive” a doomsday event, while also using the island nation to “develop sensible regulation around human genetic enhancement”.
“There are probably other things that it is useful for a sovereign country to do,” the memo cited in the lawsuit said.
Located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation with approximately 12,000 inhabitants.
The country was known as a hotspot for money laundering activities in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was cleared by the US Treasury Department in 2003.
The country has subsequently taken steps to improve its international reputation by implementing stricter rules against financial crimes.
SBF is known as a major donor
While leading FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried was noted for her interest in effective philanthropy, a philosophy aimed at supporting charities that are able to achieve the best results for the funds they have available.
Among other things, the causes Bankman-Fried has supported include issues related to global health, pandemic prevention, and climate change.
Additionally, the former FTX boss was also known to be a major donor to left-leaning politicians.
However, he later admitted that although he was very public about his donations to Democrats, he also donated anonymously to Republican politicians.
“All my Republican donations were black,” he said shortly before his arrest late last year, which he said was because journalists “get nervous if you donate to Republicans.”
Public data indicated that Bankman-Fried was the second largest donor to the Democratic Party in the 2021-2022 election cycle, behind billionaire George Soros.
According to OpenSecrets, he donated more than $46m to candidates and groups affiliated with the Democratic Party.