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Gary Wang (born c. 1993)[1] is an American computer programmer who co-founded the crypto currency exchange FTX with Sam Bankman-Fried. At the height of his success in 2022, Wang was ranked the 227th richest American in the Forbes 400, and the 431st richest person in the world by The World's Billionaires.[3] After FTX collapsed into bankruptcy, caused by massive fraud perpetrated by Wang, Bankman-Fried and a few others, Wang plea bargained a guilty charge in exchange for testifying against his former college roommate and FTX cofounder, Bankman-Fried.[4] Before co-founding FTX, Wang worked at Google Flights, building systems for the aggregation of ticket prices.
Gary Wang | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1993 (age 30–31)[1] China |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Zixiao Wang[2] |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SB) |
| Occupation(s) | Computer programmer Entrepreneur |
| Known for | FTX |
Wang was born in China and moved to the U.S. when he was 8-years-old with his parents. He graduated in 2011 from Cherry Hill High School East in New Jersey.[2] He attended Canada/USA Mathcamp, where he met his future classmate and cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried in 2010.[5][6] After high school, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied mathematics and computer science.[7] At MIT, he was the roommate of Sam Bankman-Fried for three years, and he was a member of Epsilon Theta, a coed fraternity that also included Bankman-Fried.[5][8] After graduating from MIT, he worked at Google Flights, building systems for the aggregation of ticket prices.[9] When Bankman-Fried cofounded Alameda Research in 2017, Wang reportedly left his role at Google to join his former roommate in that business.[5] In 2019, Bankman-Fried and Wang cofounded FTX.[5]
At FTX, he was the chief technology officer. He was the second-largest shareholder of FTX at the time of the collapse of the company.[5] Wang owned 17% of FTX and 10% of Alameda Research, a sister firm of FTX and co-founded by Bankman-Fried.[6][10] Wang was a somewhat reclusive figure, per reports.[5] He was described as brilliant "beyond belief", and so integral that if he left FTX it would collapse.[5] He was happiest when computer programming from home.[5] According to an interview with his parents, Wang "wasn't interested in the communication or management parts of the company. He was only interested in his part of work, [which was] coding.”[11]
On December 18, 2022, Wang pleaded guilty in a plea bargain[12] in the Southern District of New York to wire fraud and three counts of conspiracy involving wire, securities and commodities fraud relating to helping Bankman-Fried defraud FTX customers, for which SBF was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.[6] His lawyer, Ilan Graff, stated that "Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness."[13][14]
As part of his plea bargain, Wang testified in United States v. Sam Bankman-Fried that "with some simple tweaks to computer code," he helped Alameda Research misappropriate as much as $65 billion from FTX customers and that he "lied about this to the public."[6] He said he was directed to alter FTX's code between 2019 and 2022 despite knowing that it would give Alameda Research "special privileges."[5]
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