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Gabe Bankman-Fried

Nationality:

American
Occupation:

Former Director, Guarding Against Pandemics (stepped down in November 2022)

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Gabe Bankman-Fried is a former Democratic congressional staffer and the founder and former head of left-of-center advocacy organization Guarding Against Pandemics (GAP). Notably, he is the brother of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in 2022 and who was later convicted of charges including money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy. 1 2

Gabe Bankman-Fried assisted his brother in becoming one of the largest political contributors and helped him spend over $70 million from 2021 through FTX’s collapse on research projects, advocacy, and political contributions mostly to Democrats using a strategy called “effective altruism” that funded unconventional political and policy efforts. His brother’s fortune also provided the funding to start his advocacy group, Guarding Against Pandemics, and a family foundation called Building a Stronger Future that the brothers co-founded. 3 4

Following the November 2022 collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and the evaporation of Sam Bankman-Fried’s estimated $16 billion fortune, Gabe Bankman-Fried stepped down as director of GAP. 3 In March 2024, his brother was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering and was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. 2

Early Life and Education

Gabe Bankman-Fried was raised in California and attended Brown University, graduating in 2017. He is the brother of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried and the son of Barbara Fried and Allan Joseph Bankman, both Stanford University law professors. His mother Barbara Fried is the co-founder of Mind the Gap, a pro-Democratic super PAC known for funneling money from Silicon Valley donors to Democratic campaigns and causes. 5 6

Gabe Bankman-Fried had brief post-college stints as a trader at Jane Street Capital and a data consultant at Democratic political data firm Civis Analytics. 7

In 2019, he joined the staff of U.S. Rep Sean Casten (D-IL) where he worked in the junior role of legislative correspondent from 2019 until 2021. 8

Guarding Against Pandemics

While still working on the congressional staff of Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), Gabe Bankman-Fried started Guarding Against Pandemics, a nonprofit group funded by his brother Sam Bankman-Fried that promoted federal and state pandemic preparedness spending. The group supported a $30 billion pandemic preparedness spending package that was included in a large spending bill proposed to congress by the Biden administration and ran ads supporting it in the home states of key Senate Democrats, such as Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). 7 9 The organization hired 26 lobbyists and spent over $1 million lobbying congress on pandemic funding in 2022. 3

Other efforts the group promoted included funding a ballot initiative to add an additional 1.5 percent to the marijuana sales tax in the City of Denver to direct funds for pandemic research at the University of Colorado Denver CityCenter and put over $500,000 towards the effort. 10

A week before the 2022 election, Guarding Against Pandemics hosted separate cocktail receptions for congressional Republican and Democratic staffers and representatives at a townhouse near Capitol Hill that the organization purchased for $3.3 million. 11

Other Political Activity

Gabe Bankman-Fried was described as jointly forming the funding network fueled by his brother’s fortune. He worked alongside his brother and the two created several other advocacy groups and philanthropic arms tied to FTX. The two also created a family foundation called Building a Stronger Future that donated heavily to pandemic preparedness activities and gave $5 million to left-leaning journalism outlet ProPublica in February 2022. 12

Other funding activities by the brothers included spending $12 million to champion a California ballot initiative to fund public health programs and virus detection (the measure was deferred to 2024 due to lackluster support), investing more than $11 million on the unsuccessful Democratic congressional primary campaign of an Oregon biosecurity expert, and contributing a $150,000 grant to help Moncef Slaoui, scientific adviser for the Trump administration’s “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine accelerator, write his memoir. 3

Resignation

As of November 2022, following the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency company founded by brother Sam Bankman-Fried, Gabe Bankman-Fried stepped down as director of Guarding Against Pandemics. 3

References

  1. Napolitano, Elizabeth, and Brian Cheung. “Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX Collapse, Explained.” NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, November 18, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/sam-bankman-fried-crypto-ftx-collapse-explained-rcna57582.
  2. Yaffe-Bellany, David and J. Edward Moreno. “Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison.” New York Times, March 28, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/technology/sam-bankman-fried-sentenced.html
  3. Diamond, Dan. “Before FTX collapse, founder poured millions into pandemic prevention.” Washington Post. November 16, 2022. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/16/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-pandemic-prevention/
  4. Kahn, Jeremy “Sam Bankman-Fried pledged billions to charity — inside the ‘rage,’ ‘self-hatred,’ and scramble for answers after the FTX crash.” Fortune. November 14, 2022. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://fortune.com/2022/11/14/bankman-fried-ftx-collapse-threatens-effective-altruism-billions-charity-philanthropy/
  5. Schleifer, Theodore. “Inside the secretive Silicon Valley group that has funneled over $20 million to Democrats.” Recode. January 6, 2020. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/6/21046631/mind-the-gap-silicon-valley-democratic-donors-stanford
  6. “Joseph Bankman.” Stanford Law School. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://law.stanford.edu/directory/joseph-bankman/
  7. “Gabriel Bankman-Fried.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-bankman-fried-39ba35159/
  8. “Gabriel D. Bankman-Fried.” LegiStorm. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/317126/Gabriel_D_Bankman_Fried.html
  9. Roarty, Alex. “Advocacy group launches ads pushing Manchin, other Democrats to back pandemic funding.” McClatchy DC. August 17, 2021. Accessed October 21, 2021. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article253550539.html
  10. McCormick-Cavanagh, Conor. “Dark Money Group Pouring Plenty of Green into Denver Pot Tax Initiative.” Westword. June 22, 2021. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.westword.com/news/denver-marijuana-dark-money-ballot-guarding-against-pandemics-tax-12003508
  11. Vogel, Kenneth; Flitter, Emily, and Yaffe-Bellany, David. “Inside Sam Bankman-Fried’s Quest to Win Friends and Influence People.” New York Times. Accessed November 23, 2022.  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/business/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-influence.html
  12. “Bankman-Fried Family Donates $5 Million to ProPublica.” ProPublica. February 28, 2022. Accessed November 23, 2022. https://www.propublica.org/atpropublica/bankman-fried-family-donates-5-million-to-propublica
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