Taylor Swift is a successful pop star with a string of million-selling albums to her credit. But it turns out she has some investor savvy as well.
In 2021 FTX, the now bankrupt and defunct crypto exchange, approached Swift about signing a $100 million endorsement deal. Several other celebrities had already done so.
Swift didn’t sign and now we know why. Adam Moskowitz, one of the lawyers handling a class-action suit against several high-profile FTX promotors, says Swift was the only person to ask a very important question.
Moskowitz, appearing on "The Scoop" podcast to discuss the lawsuit, said Taylor turned to the lawyers and asked if the FTX securities were registered. She was told they were not.
At that point Swift backed out of the deal and, in doing so avoided becoming a defendant in the lawsuit. Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, and Larry David signed the deal and now face a lawsuit.
Big losses
Investors in the FTX exchange should probably have asked that question as well. Investors lost an estimated $8 billion and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces federal fraud charges.
Operating from the Bahamas with little to no regulation, FTX “loaned” investors’ deposits to a sister company, Alameda Research, which made a number of risky investments, resulting in big losses.
A security is defined as a tradable asset that has value, such as a stock or bond. Securities sold in the U.S. must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC has accused FTX of selling an unregistered security in the form of FTT, its cryptocurrency.
Swift may have inherited some of her investment smarts from her father. According to Business Insider, he was an investment adviser with Merrill Lynch for 30 years.