Tom Brady sued by Patriots fan who lost $30K in FTX collapse
Lifelong New England fan joined a class-action lawsuit against Brady and other celebrities who endorsed FTX
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Tom Brady is being sued by a Patriots fan who says they invested tens of thousands of dollars into now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX based on the quarterback's endorsement of the platform.
Michael Livieratos says he transferred $30,000 from a rival crypto exchange to FTX, and has now joined a class action lawsuit seeking damages against a slew of celebrities – including Brady – who were paid spokespeople for FTX before it collapsed, losing billions of dollars in investors' funds.
Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks onto the field prior to the game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on October 23, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"As a New England Patriots fan my entire life, you can imagine the influence that Tom Brady would have," Livieratos told The Washington Post.
The lawsuit says Brady and his now ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, were "FTX ambassadors" who "joined the company's $20-million ad campaign in 2021," filming a commercial "showing them telling acquaintances to join the FTX platform."
Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady attend the 2019 Met Gala celebrating "Camp: Notes on Fashion" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2019 in New York City. ((Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic) / Getty Images)
Other defendants in the suit include Bündchen, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested Monday on several charges linked to his firm's collapse.
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The suit describes the well-known celebrities as "all parties who either controlled, promoted, assisted in, and actively participated in FTX Trading and FTX US (collectively, the 'FTX Entities'), offer and sale of unregistered securities in the form of yield-bearing accounts (YBAs) to residents of the United States."
A federal judge dismissed a cryptocurrency lawsuit this month against Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
The case is similar to a class action filed in January against celebrities, including reality star Kim Kardashian and boxer Floyd Mayweather, who were paid promoters of Ethereum Max (EMAX) in another alleged crypto scheme.
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That lawsuit was thrown out by a judge earlier this month, but Kardashian still paid a $1.26 million fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in October for her failure to disclose she was paid $250,000 for a social media post about the EMax tokens.
FOX Business' Greg Norman and Tracy Wright contributed to this report.