Prosecutors in Bankman-Fried trial compare defense argument to ‘Dumb and Dumber’
Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, walks outside the Manhattan federal court in New York City, U.S. March 30, 2023.
Amanda Perobelli | Reuters
Prosecutors in the criminal trial against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried compared one of the defense’s arguments to a scene in the 1994 film “Dumb and Dumber,” in which actor Jim Carrey says IOUs are “as good as money.”
In a written brief on Thursday to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who’s presiding over the Manhattan trial, assistant U.S. attorneys for the Southern District of New York took issue with several of the jury instructions provided by the defense team.
One specific directive reminded prosecutors of the 29-year-old comedy about two less-than-intelligent friends (played by Carrey and Jeff Daniels) who take a cross-country trip to Colorado to return a briefcase full of money to its owner, though the cash had actually been left as ransom.
“If you find that FTX customers, after depositing funds with FTX, received a credit to transact on the FTX exchange and therefore received the right to withdraw an equivalent amount of funds at a later time upon request, that is insufficient to establish that they were deprived of property,” the jury instruction from the defense says.
Much of the government’s case hinges on billions of dollars that FTX, Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange, siphoned out of customer accounts and used largely to try and cover up losses at sister hedge fund Alameda Research after cryptocurrency prices plunged. Funds also allegedly went to paying for things like a $35 million property in the Bahamas and political donations.
Customers were ultimately unable to retrieve much of their money as FTX and Alameda were simultaneously imploding.
The defense, according to prosecutors, is trying to make the claim to the jury that clients still had a credit to the funds they deposited even if the money wasn’t there because it was being used for other things. Prosecutors say the argument is “untethered to the facts of the case” and that a “credit to obtain funds at a later date, if such funds are ultimately available, is clearly not the same, or as valuable, as the money or property itself.”
In a footnote, the prosecution writes, “A popular movie from the 1990s illustrates the point: a briefcase, once filled with money, is not the same as a briefcase later filled with IOUs.” In “Dumb and Dumber,” when the briefcase reaches its owner, it’s filled with paper.
“That’s as good as money, sir,” says Carrey, playing the character Lloyd Christmas.
Actor Jim Carrey
Filippo Monteforte | AFP | Getty Images
Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lead defense attorney, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bankman-Fried, 31, faces seven criminal fraud charges tied to the collapse of his crypto empire late last year. Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty, could face life in prison if convicted.
The first three weeks of the trial have been highlighted by testimony from Bankman-Fried’s former close friends, who were also top execs at FTX and Alameda and have since turned on him, some through plea deals with the government. The trial is scheduled to resume late next week and extend into November.
On numerous occasions, Judge Kaplan has called sidebar meetings with the lead government attorneys and Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, to discuss their demeanor in the courtroom. Most recently, on Thursday, Kaplan ripped into lawyers from both sides, in particular telling the prosecution that their latest expert witnesses knew nothing specific about important details and yet called Bankman-Fried’s behavior criminal. Both sides were warned to do better and to communicate more with each other.
— CNBC’s Kate Rooney and Dawn Giel contributed to this report
WATCH: Prosecution in Sam Bankman-Fried trial wrapping up in coming days
Teladoc Health Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 31, 2024.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Teladoc Health shares fell in extended trading on Wednesday after the company reported a wider loss than analysts expected and issued disappointing quarterly guidance.
Here’s how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG:
- Loss per share: 28 cents vs. 24 cents expected
- Revenue: $640.5 million vs. $639.6 million expected
Revenue at the telehealth company decreased 3% in the fourth quarter from $660.5 million during the same period last year, according to a release. Teladoc’s net loss widened to $48.4 million, or 28 cents per share, from a loss of $28.9 million, or 17 cents per share, a year ago.
Teladoc is in the middle of a deep slump, with its stock price dropping in each of the past four years due to hefty competition in remote health, challenges at mental health division BetterHelp and high operating costs.
When Teladoc acquired digital health company Livongo in 2020, the companies had a combined enterprise value of $37 billion. Teladoc’s market cap was around $1.9 billion as of market close on Wednesday.
“As we look forward in 2025, execution will continue to be a top priority as we advance efforts to unlock growth opportunities and position the company for long term success,” Teladoc CEO Chuck Divita said in the statement. “We will also remain focused on our cost structure, building on the significant improvements achieved in 2024 over the prior year.”
Teladoc reported adjusted earnings of $74.8 million in its fourth quarter, a 35% decrease from a year ago. Adjusted earnings for the company’s Integrated Care segment declined 5% to $53.2 million, and BetterHelp saw adjusted earnings drop 63% to $21.7 million.
For the first quarter, Teladoc said it expects revenue of between $608 million and $629 million, while analysts were expecting $632.9 million. The company said adjusted earnings will be between $47 million and $59 million for the period.
Earlier this month, Teladoc announced it will acquire preventative care company Catapult Health in an all-cash deal for $65 million. Teladoc said its outlook includes the anticipated contribution from the deal but not the effect of potential impairments or purchase accounting. Teladoc said the acquisition should close at the end of the month.
Teladoc will host its quarterly call with investors at 4:30 p.m. ET.
— CNBC’s Bertha Coombs contributed to this report.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff appears at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2025.
Halil Sagirkaya | Anadolu | Getty Images
Salesforce reported weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue on Wednesday and issued a forecast that fell short of analysts’ estimates. The stock price slipped 4% in extended trading.
Here’s how the company did compared with LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: $2.78 adjusted vs. $2.61 expected
- Revenue: $9.99 billion vs. $10.04 billion expected
Revenue increased 7.6% from a year ago in the quarter that ended Jan. 31, according to a statement. Net income rose to $1.71 billion, or $1.75 per share, from $1.45 billion, or $1.47 per share, a year earlier.
The top category of subscription and support revenue was service, at $2.33 billion. The figure was up about 8% and below the $2.37 billion consensus among analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. In the sales category, Salesforce generated $2.13 billion in revenue, up 8% and also trailing Visible Alpha’s consensus of $2.17 billion.
During the quarter, the company introduced its second-generation Agentforce artificial intelligence agent technology, which answers employee questions in the Slack team communications app.
Salesforce said it has completed more than 3,000 paid deals involving Agentforce since October. Agentforce has gotten involved in 380,000 conversations through Salesforce’s help website, with humans getting involved in 2% of cases, according to the statement.
“A lot of other vendors are talking about their agent capabilities, but few are able to show that they’ve got this really running at scale,” co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff said on a conference call with analysts.
Agentforce will make a modest contribution to revenue in fiscal 2026, with a larger effect in the following year, said Amy Weaver, Salesforce’s outgoing finance chief.
Benioff referred to a forthcoming product in the area of information technology service management, where ServiceNow operates.
The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency is using Slack, Benioff said.
“We’ll work closely with the government,” he said. “We’ll do anything we can to help them succeed.”
The company called for $2.53 to $2.55 in adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal first quarter, with $9.71 billion to $9.76 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated adjusted earnings of $2.61 per share, with $9.9 billion in revenue.
For fiscal 2026, Salesforce is targeting $11.09 to $11.17 in adjusted earnings per share on $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion in revenue, implying 7.4% growth. The LSEG consensus was for adjusted earnings per share of $11.18 on $41.35 billion in revenue.
As of Wednesday’s close, Salesforce shares are down about 8% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index has gained about 1%.
Technology
Instacart suffers steepest drop on record after disappointing revenue, lackluster forecast
The Instacart logo is seen on a smartphone and on a PC screen.
Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Instacart‘s stock had its worst day on record, slumping 12% after the grocery delivery company posted a fourth-quarter revenue miss and offered light guidance for the current period.
Prior to Wednesday’s move, the stock’s biggest one-day slump came in November, when it dropped 11%.
Instacart reported fourth-quarter revenue of $883 million, falling short of the $891 million average analyst estimate, according to LSEG. The company said it anticipates adjusted earnings of between $220 million and $230 million for the first quarter, below a consensus forecast of $237.1 million.
Gross transaction value, which measures the value of products sold, will come in between $9 billion and $9.15 billion in the quarter, compared to a FactSet estimate of $9 billion. Instacart said it expects average order growth to decline due to restaurant orders and its $0 delivery fee on minimum $10 baskets.
When Instacart held its Nasdaq debut in September 2023, it became the first notable venture-backed company to go public in the U.S. in about two years, as the market adjusted to soaring inflation and rising interest rates.
The company, whose official corporate name is Maplebear, closed its first day on the market with a roughly $11 billion market cap, down from its $39 billion private market valuation in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The stock peaked at $53.15 on Feb. 19 after rallying 76% last year. It closed on Wednesday at $42.80.
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