Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital doesn’t want to be related to the FTX exchange anymore, as it marks down its investment in the collapsing exchange from $213.5 million to $0.
Sequoia Capital first sent the letter to its partners and later made it public via Twitter. The VC firm stated that a liquidity crunch had created a solvency risk for FTX, and the full nature and extent of this risk are unknown at this time.
Sequoia stated that its exposure to FTX is “limited” in its Global Growth Fund III, with a cost basis of $150 million for the FTX portion of the fund.
The firm claims that FTX is not a top ten position in the fund, and the cost basis accounts for less than 3% of the committed capital of the fund.
“The $150M loss is offset by ~$7.5B in realized and unrealized gains in the same fund, so the fund remains in good shape,” Sequoia Capital informed its partners.
Sequoia even added that the Sequoia Capital Global Equities Fund invested $63.5 million in FTX.com and FTX US. But the amount only represents less than 1% of the SCGE Fund’s portfolio.
Regarding the investments in FTX, Sequoia noted that at the time of their investment, they ran a rigorous diligence process. FTX generated approximately $1B in revenue and more than $250M in operating income when Sequoia invested in them in 2021.
Sequoia concluded by saying, “The current situation is developing quickly. We will communicate in a timely manner when more information is available.”
FTX is on the brink of bankruptcy with a shortfall of $8 billion. New reports suggest that FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried is trying for a fundraiser from new investors next week. The reason is old ones like Sequoia are making it clear that they have limited exposure to FTX.
Also Read: Binance Calls Off its Plan to Acquire FTX
