• Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, was released on a record $250 million bail in late December.
• Michael Milken’s $250 million bail was actually paid back in 1989 and is worth over $570 million today due to inflation.
• Julius Meinl V left a Vienna jail on a €100 million euro bail back in 2009, equivalent to $134 million at the time and worth $186 million when accounting for inflation.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Record Bail
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX and now facing accusations of money laundering, fraud, and election campaign finance violations in the US from the Bahamas was released on a record $250 million bail paid by his parents and some mysterious individuals whose identities will be revealed by the court in February.
Michael Milken’s Bail
Michael Milken was an executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert charged with racketeering and securities fraud back in 1989. His $250m bail would be worth about $570m today after accounting for inflation — more than double the amount requested from FTX’s former CEO. Surprisingly, Milken received a pardon from Donald Trump in 2020.
Julius Meinl V’s Bail
Julius Meinl V left a Vienna jail on a €100m euro bail back in 2009 which is equivalent to around $134m at that time or roughly $186m when adjusted for inflation.
Court Disclosure of Guarantors‘ Identities
The crypto community doubted that SBF’s parents could handle such a high sum as collateral for his release so media outlets filed petitions urging the court to reveal other individuals who signed the bail agreement. The court is expected to announce these guarantors‘ names sometime during February this year.
Notable Financial Crimes Bails
Bankman-Fried’s record request might not be necessarily paid but other notable bails requested for financial crimes have been met: Michael Milken’s actual payment of his requested sum (worth double what SBF asked) as well as Julius Meinl V’s €100m euro release from jail (equivalent to around $186m today).