SBF was reportedly said to be taking antidepressant medication every day, and the Cursor shares that were initially sold for just 200k are now worth $3 billion.

《New York Magazine》exposes the latest developments inside prison involving FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The 34-year-old says he takes Adderall every day for clinical depression and ADHD, and he even claims that after he gets out, he will “issue his own new token.” But what really helps explain why he’s depressed is the stake in the Cursor parent company that he invested in early on—during bankruptcy liquidation, it was sold off at the original price of $200,000. Now SpaceX has acquired it for $60 billion, meaning that stake was supposed to be worth about $3 billion.
(Background: SpaceX has decided/approved the acquisition of Cursor—its $60 billion stock-for-stock deal has been formally signed, and the transaction is expected to close in Q3.)
(Background added: SBF’s voice from prison: “Absolutely wants” a presidential pardon, missing out on the AI boom, and FTX can repay 170%)

Table of Contents

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• Selling the $200,000 stake for a “$3 billion” fortune
• No wonder he’d be depressed
• “After I get out, I’m going to issue my own coin”
• Trump refused two pardons

Key Highlights

• 《New York Magazine》: Sam Bankman-Fried, in Lompoc prison, writes a prison memo called 《Manfred》 while suffering from clinical depression and ADHD and taking Adderall every day
• In 2022, Alameda invested about $200,000 into Cursor parent company Anysphere for roughly 5%; in 2023, the liquidation team sold it at cost. After SpaceX’s $60 billion acquisition, the stake is worth about $3 billion—about a 15,000x gap
• Sam Bankman-Fried submitted a presidential pardon application on June 8; the probability on Polymarket doubled to about 14%, and FTT surged at one point

Inside the federal prison in Lompoc, California, the 34-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried takes Adderall every day. He has clinical depression, and he also has ADHD. In his cell, he writes a serialized prison memo called 《Manfred》. He refuses to join the prison’s white gang “The Woods.” Instead, he would rather play chess and cards with members of Black gangs and prisoners of other ethnicities. He was reportedly exposed by his fellow inmates as often being very depressed—every day, he has to take psychiatric medication.

We previously assumed that the main reason this former crypto prodigy was most likely depressed was the 25-year sentence, and the mental imbalance he has long claimed was caused by his insistence that CZ “messed with” him.

Those earlier events were indeed tragic enough. But during the AI boom, what SBF truly missed was the wildly high returns from many AI startups he had invested in before.

Selling the $200,000 stake for a “$3 billion” fortune

Go back to April 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research, put up $200,000 to invest in a small company that was valued at only $4 million at the time, and in exchange it received about a 5% stake.

That company was Anysphere, and its product was Cursor—an AI-assisted coding tool.

In 2023, the FTX empire had already collapsed, and the bankruptcy liquidation team was busy monetizing every asset they could. When it came time for the Anysphere stake, they sold it. They sold it for $200,000—the same price they had paid when they bought in.

Next, the timeline reaches June 16, 2026. SpaceX signed a $60 billion all-stock merger agreement to purchase Anysphere outright, with the deal expected to close in the third quarter. Based on that valuation, the 5% stake SBF held back then is now worth about $3 billion.

From $200,000 to $3 billion—a difference of about 15,000 times. For SBF, he has always argued that the bankruptcy team sold too fast and at too low a price. This time, it seems he might not be wrong—but what can he do?

No wonder he’d be depressed

For someone taking antidepressants, in prison, watching the news every day—seeing one of the few targets he got right back then swell into a $3 billion acquisition by SpaceX. That money has nothing to do with him, and it has nothing to do with those creditors either.

In a prison interview with 《New York Magazine》, Sam Bankman-Fried repeatedly tries to clear his name, saying that FTX actually had the ability to repay in full, and even more than what was owed—so he argues that the prosecution itself is unfair. Setting aside whether that claim holds up, the mere accounting reality of this Cursor stake alone is enough to keep him tossing and turning in his Lompoc cell.

If it were you—investing correctly in a company, watching its valuation grow by 15,000x later, and then having your stake sold off while you’re in jail—wouldn’t you also need medication? At least, I would.

“After I get out, I’m going to issue my own coin”

The more absurd part is that SBF said he plans to issue a coin after he gets out.

According to 《New York Magazine》, when his cellmate David Bunevacz asked what SBF planned to do after release, he said he wanted to make a lot of money, but first he would need startup capital of $50 million or $100 million in order to build a real business. Then he added:

After I get out, I’m going to issue my own new token, and everyone will rush to it.

David Bunevacz is an entrepreneur who was sentenced to 17.5 years for marijuana startup fraud. After hearing that, he only added, coldly: “He might be joking. People probably wouldn’t rush to it—but who knows.”

For someone who went to prison for issuing tokens and for running FTX and Alameda, whose term ended up being 25 years—his very first dream after release was still, somehow, to issue tokens.

Trump refused two pardons

On June 8, 2026, Sam Bankman-Fried formally submitted a presidential pardon application to the Office of the Pardon Attorney of the U.S. Department of Justice. He requested a “pardon after the completion of his sentence.” This kind of pardon would not get him out of prison early, but it could restore some civil rights after he has served his sentence.

On Polymarket, the chance that he would receive a pardon before 2027 doubled from its earlier low to about 14%. Part of the rationale among some bettors was that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) had previously also received a pardon, and the market started imagining: “Will it be SBF’s turn next?”

But reality isn’t that romantic. In 2026, Trump has publicly rejected a presidential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried twice already. The reason is straightforward: the $11 billion FTX fraud is simply too large.

He picked the winners on Cursor and a whole slew of AI startups, but he lost FTX. He takes medication every day in prison, watches a $3 billion stake get sold off cheaply, and plans to issue another coin after he gets out—while at the same time placing his hopes for a pardon on someone who has already rejected him twice.

No wonder he’d be depressed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did FTX sell Cursor shares for $200,000?

In 2022, Alameda invested $200,000 to put about 5% into Cursor parent company Anysphere. In 2023, the FTX bankruptcy liquidation team sold it at the original $200,000 price for quick monetization. After SpaceX acquired it for $60 billion, the current value of the stake is about $3 billion, a price difference of about 15,000x.

Will Sam Bankman-Fried really issue his own token after he gets out?

According to 《New York Magazine》, while he was in prison he told his fellow inmates that after his release he wanted to issue his own new token, saying that everyone would rush to it. But he is still serving his 25-year sentence, and the pardon application submitted on June 8 is a “pardon after the completion of his sentence,” which will not release him early.