FTX co-founder Gary Wang avoids prison time for role in crypto fraud
Gary Wang, a former executive of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who testified against founder Sam Bankman-Fried, attends his sentencing on fraud charges at the United States District Court in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., November 20, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Gary Wang, co-founder and ex-technology chief of FTX, was sentenced Wednesday to time served and three years of supervised release on each of the four counts he pled guilty to, becoming the fifth and final ex-employee of the collapsed crypto exchange to be punished. Wang was also ordered to forfeit $11 billion, the same as the other co-defendants.
Wang, who took the stand in the trial against his former boss Sam Bankman-Fried, faced a maximum sentence of 50 years for the four criminal counts he pleaded guilty to, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
After FTX’s former engineering chief Nishad Singh successfully avoided prison time when he was sentenced by Judge Lewis Kaplan last month, Wang was seeking the same sentence citing his nearly immediate cooperation with the government.
When given the opportunity to address the court, Wang said he was deeply sorry to all the customers and investors in FTX.
“I took the easy path, the cowardly path, instead of doing the right thing,” Wang said in a short address to the court, as he clutched a single printed piece of paper that he never referenced from the podium.
“I will spend the rest of my life trying to make amends,” he added.
Wang’s parents, as well as his wife, who is expecting their first child, were in court to support him.
Attorneys for Wang say he didn’t have full visibility on the crimes, unlike the other cooperating witnesses, and didn’t know that FTX’s sister hedge fund Alameda Research was taking customer money until after the scheme was underway.
The government was also seeking leniency for Wang.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos described Wang as the easiest cooperating witness he had ever worked with, and he credited Wang for essentially deciphering half of the case for the Government by meticulously unpacking the complicated code used by FTX that allowed for the customer money to be taken off the exchange.
In the sentencing submission, prosecutors added that since testifying against the former FTX CEO, Wang has “put his extraordinary computer programing skills to use in detecting potential fraud in the stock and cryptocurrency markets,” and has built an interface that the government has started using for detecting potential fraud by publicly traded companies.
In addition, “Wang has also been working on a tool for detection of potential illegal activity in cryptocurrency markets, which in the event Wang is sentenced to a period of time served, the Government understands he will complete as part of his ongoing cooperation.”
Roos also noted that Wang was the first FTX employee to walk through the government’s door but the last to be sentenced, as the FTX criminal proceedings come to a close.
In March, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $11 billion — the harshest punishment from Judge Kaplan.
Alameda’s ex-CEO Caroline Ellison, who was the star witness in Bankman-Fried’s prosecution and his ex-girlfriend, was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the crime. And Ryan Salame, another former top lieutenant of Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in May — beyond the upper limit recommended by prosecutors.
All FTX former executives have faced sentencing before Judge Kaplan. The no-nonsense 78-year-old judge is a veteran of the Southern District of New York and has presided over some of the biggest cases to roll through the courthouse at 500 Pearl Street in downtown Manhattan.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like what happened here,” Kaplan said of Wang’s cooperation. “You’re entitled to a lot of credit.”
The first electric Range Rover is expected to hit showrooms in the next few months. With its official debut just around the corner, Range Rover’s first EV was spotted testing in Sweden. Here’s a sneak peek of the luxury electric SUV.
Range Rover’s first EV put through the paces in Sweden
Range Rover is finally gearing up to introduce its first EV later this year. Earlier this year, JLR confirmed that the Range Rover Electric already has 57,000 buyers on the waiting list.
The company claims the new model “redefines” the electric luxury SUV with an “unrivalled driving experience.” To prove it, Range Rover is putting its first EV through the paces in sub-zero conditions in Sweden.
Range Rover’s electric SUV has been through 45,000 miles of testing across frozen lakes and land tracks. The latest round allowed engineers to test their new thermal management system.
The company’s new ThermAssist thermal management system reduces heat energy consumption by up to 40% and is designed to warm the propulsion system or cabin in temperatures as low as ‑10°C (14°F).
Range Rover said it also helps optimize driving range while minimizing the impact of extreme temperatures on charging performance.
Combined with an 800V battery, the first one built in-house by JLR, the company promises the best possible performance, with optimized energy density, range, and charging times. The Range Rover’s first EV will be powered by a 117 kWh battery, consisting of 344 prismatic cells.
Built for both on- and off-road performance, the electric SUV features new additions like single-pedal driving and a switchable twin-chamber air suspension system.
Range Rover tested the single-pedal capabilities on both 28-degree and 17-degree split-mu inclines at its Arctic test facility.
Matt Becker, Vehicle Engineering Director at JLR, explained that the electric SUV maintains the brand’s signature driving experience “by marrying all the essential Range Rover elements with new and advanced technologies.”
Following its second season in Sweden, Range Rover will continue testing prototypes ahead of the official launch later this year.
After its first EV, Range Rover is already preparing another smaller electric SUV, which is expected to be the Sport model. In 2026, the company is expected to release a mid-sized electric SUV, likely the Velar.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Volvo is launching a nearly $2 billion (SEK 18 billion) restructuring plan to drive growth and mitigate the impact of Trump’s tariffs. With the new EX30 and ES90 EVs rolling out, Volvo is taking drastic action to drive growth.
Volvo launches restructuring plan due to Trump’s tariffs
After its operating income fell by nearly 60% to SEK 1.9 billion in the first quarter, Volvo launched a cost and cash action plan.
The restructuring is worth SEK 18 billion, with most of it being realized in 2026. Volvo’s new strategy includes SEK 3 billion in variable cost actions and SEK 5 billion in indirect spend efficiencies. The additional SEK 10 billion will be added in cash actions to reduce working capital and capital expenditures this year and in 2026.
Volvo Cars CEO Håkan Samuelsson said, “The automotive industry is in the middle of a very difficult period with challenges not seen before.”
With “turbulence in the market,” Samuelsson added that the company needs to “further improve our cash flow generation and lower our costs.”
To do so, Volvo is focusing on three areas: profitability, electrification, and regionalisation. Volvo is already leading the premium segment, with electrified vehicles accounting for 43% of sales in Q1. However, with new EVs launching, Volvo said more will need to be done to overcome the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
Volvo created a new region called Americas, which includes the US, Canada, and Latin America, to streamline its global operations.
In the US, the company is looking to sharpen its product line-up and plans to boost production at its Charleston, South Carolina, plant.
Earlier this month, Volvo started production of the EX30 at its Ghent plant, which will help it ramp up deliveries in the second half of 2025.
Since it will be imported into the US, Volvo is bracing to take a hit from tariffs. Even the EX90, which is made in Charleston, is heavily impacted, as most components still come from Europe.
Volvo also revealed the new ES90 last month, its new electric sedan and second EV built on the Volvo Cars Superset Tech Stack. It’s Volvo’s sixth fully electric vehicle following the EX90, EM90, EX40, EX40, and EX30.
In China, Volvo plans to adapt to the changing market with its first extended-range PHEV model, which will launch later this year.
Volvo said it remains “firm on becoming a fully electric car company.” Despite a weaker overall market, almost a fifth of the vehicles it sold in the first quarter were electric.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
In a warming world with increasingly extreme weather events, homeowners are turning to backup batteries for relief and peace of mind. But the backup only lasts only so long, and there’s a bigger problem at play: aging power grids.
Enter the virtual power plant, managed through a cloud-based system. It’s a fertile market for a number of companies as consumers look for more reliability, especially in areas prone to extreme temperatures and storms.
Base Power, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a virtual power plant and hardware company that provides battery backup to homeowners. The startup manages the batteries, and virtually controls the power that’s going in and out.
“We install our batteries on our customers’ homes. When the grid is up and running, we use those batteries to support the power grid,” said Base CEO Zach Dell. “When the grid goes out, our customers get those batteries to back up their home. We’re also able to save our customers on the order of 10 to 20% a month on their electricity bills.”
Unlike Tesla and Enphase, Base doesn’t sell home backup batteries. Rather, it rents the batteries to homeowners, providing the hardware, software, installation, operations and electricity. Essentially, it’s a battery-based energy company.
“We own and operate it,” Dell said. “We handle all the maintenance. We take care of the system like it’s ours.”
That control allows Base to manipulate how the battery is used, specifically accessing cheaper power and passing that savings on to the consumer. Base charges the battery from the grid when demand is low, typically during overnight hours. When demand is at its peak — summer evenings and winter mornings — Base sells power, discharging the battery to support the grid.
For an upfront fee of $595 and then about $19 a month, homeowners get access to reliable power, provided by Base. That power is generated by several sources, including wind, solar, natural gas and coal. About half of Base’s customers have solar, according to the company, which lowers their costs even more and allows them to sell that power back to Base.
A company spokesperson said Base compensates customers for the power they sell back, calculated as the real-time wholesale energy price plus an additional 3 cents per kilowatt hour. Buyback rates may vary depending on market conditions and other factors.
Base is now serving one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, Lennar, which is also an investor. Base installs batteries during the construction process in roughly 20 Lennar outage-prone communities in Texas.
Stuart Miller, Chairman and co-CEO of Lennar, said it’s not just about making money.
“It’s, are we going to be able to improve the overall stature of the home building business, as it seeks to address the markets that are stressed and having problems?” he said. “Utilities and electricity is a part of that.”
Base has raised a total of $268 million from investors including Lennar, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreesen Horowitz.
Base recently announced its first utility partnership near San Antonio. Dell said the company hopes to soon expand outside of Texas. However, the batteries are made in China, and Dell said he expects to see an impact from tariffs.
— CNBC producer Lisa Rizzolo contributed to this piece.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway