The special counsel and advisors appointed to oversee the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX billed a combined $38 million U.S., plus expenses, for the month of January.
Court documents show that the billings include multiple law firms and consultancies that have been retained to conduct forensic audits of FTX’s financial records and try to recover the $8 billion U.S. of missing funds that creditors in the case claim they are owed.
By some estimates, nearly 200 lawyers have been assigned to the FTX case, as well as more than 50 non-lawyer staff such as paralegals and administrators.
One law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell, billed a total of 14,569 hours for January, totalling $16.8 million U.S. for the month.
The U.S. Department of Justice had objected to FTX hiring Sullivan & Cromwell, claiming potential conflicts of interest. But the firm was later approved by a Delaware bankruptcy court judge to represent FTX in the legal case against it.
FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, citing $8 billion U.S. in missing funds and more than one million creditors.
John J. Ray III was appointed interim chief executive officer (CEO) of FTX shortly after the bankruptcy filing.
Ray, who oversaw previous bankruptcies at Enron and Canada’s Nortel Networks, called the FTX situation “unprecedented.”
Ray most recently submitted a bill for $305,565 U.S. for his work on the FTX case during the month of February.
So far, Ray and others working on the FTX case say they have managed to recover $5.5 billion U.S. in cash, cryptocurrencies, and other assets. The funds are expected to be used to repay creditors in the case.
