Gary Wang (American businessman)
Co-founder of FTX
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gary Wang (born c. 1993)[1] is an American computer programmer who was chief technology officer of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which he founded in 2019 with Sam Bankman-Fried. At his peak 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, Wang pleaded guilty to wire fraud and other charges and agreed to testify against Bankman-Fried as part of a cooperation deal that could reduce his sentence.[4] Before co-founding FTX, Wang worked at Google Flights, building systems for the aggregation of ticket prices.
Entrepreneur
Gary Wang | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1993 (age 32–33)[1] China |
| Other name | Zixiao Wang[2] |
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) |
| Occupations | Computer programmer Entrepreneur |
| Known for | FTX |
Early life and education
Wang was born in China and moved to the U.S. when he was 8-years-old with his parents. After moving as a teen to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, he graduated in 2011 from Cherry Hill High School East.[2][5] He attended Canada/USA Mathcamp, where he met Bankman-Fried in 2010.[6][7] After high school, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied mathematics and computer science.[8] 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.[6][9] After graduating from MIT, he worked at Google Flights, building systems for the aggregation of ticket prices.[10] When Bankman-Fried cofounded Alameda Research in 2017, Wang reportedly left his role at Google to join his former roommate in that business.[6] In 2019, Bankman-Fried and Wang cofounded FTX.[6]
FTX
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.[6] Wang owned 17% of FTX and 10% of Alameda Research, a sister firm of FTX and co-founded by Bankman-Fried.[7][11] Wang was a somewhat reclusive figure, per reports.[6] He was described as brilliant "beyond belief", and so integral that if he left FTX it would collapse.[6] He was happiest when computer programming from home.[6] 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.”[12]
On December 18, 2022, Wang pleaded guilty in a plea bargain[13] 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 Bankman-Fried was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.[7] His lawyer, Ilan Graff, stated that "Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness."[14][15]
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."[7] He said he was directed to alter FTX's code between 2019 and 2022 despite knowing that it would give Alameda Research "special privileges."[6]