FTX Co-Founder Gary Wang Dodges Serious Jail Time, Gets Lenient Sentence

Wang’s sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty to several charges and became one of the first insiders to cooperate with federal prosecutors. His testimony against his former boss, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, proved crucial in securing the latter’s conviction on fraud charges.

During the trial, Wang detailed how he altered the code at Bankman-Fried’s direction, enabling Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company, to access customer funds.

“I took the easy path, the cowardly path, instead of doing the right thing,” Wang said in court before his sentencing, holding a single sheet of paper he chose not to read aloud.

While acknowledging his complicity, Wang argued through his legal team that he played a less direct role in the fraud compared to other executives.

With Wang’s sentencing, the legal proceedings against FTX’s top executives—Bankman-Fried, Singh, Caroline Ellison, Ryan Salame, and Wang—are now complete.

A Pattern of Leniency

Observers have noted that Wang’s sentence follows a trend of relatively light punishments for cooperating witnesses in the FTX case.

Nishad Singh, FTX’s former engineering chief, similarly received a lenient sentence after assisting prosecutors.

Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over both cases, acknowledged the cooperation but emphasized that Wang’s actions directly contributed to FTX’s fraudulent activities.