Kevin O'Leary Defends His Role as Former FTX's Spokesman

Kevin O'Leary, host of the reality hit show Shark Tank and a Canadian investor, defended his role as a spokesman for the collapsed cryptocurrency company FTX on CNBC's Squawk Box on Friday morning, Dec. 16.

O'Leary on FTX Saga

A few days before his arrest, O'Leary was interviewed by CNBC anchors Andrew Ross Sorkin, Joe Kernen, and Becky Quick about his paid role as an FTX ambassador, his venture capital business, and his support of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

In response to a question about why he did not strongly denounce Bankman-Fried, O'Leary mentioned that the legal system offers the assumption of innocent unless proven guilty.

In his words, he said, "This is America. The justice system provides the presumption of innocence unless proven otherwise."

The ex-CEO of FTX was arrested by Bahamian officials earlier this week. He will be extradited to the US to stand trial on federal charges.

Sorkin, pointing out that O'Leary is also a participant in the FTX saga who saw Bankman-Fried firsthand right up until the end, asked him what he thought happened and if the crypto business is actual fraud.

"I don't have the facts," O'Leary said. He added that even the new CEO of FTX, John Ray, does not have exact answers yet but is working on it.

"I'm looking through my records. I'm willing to fund a forensic account of our accounts," O'Leary stated.

To answer the previous question, O'Leary went on to say that the horrible things that have been claimed regarding the case are probably going to be true in most parts.

Thoughts on Crypto

When O'Leary suddenly changed his mind regarding Bitcoin, Kernen questioned his motives. "Did that conversion coincide with the $15 million you got from FTX?"

O'Leary denied this, saying that he had been investing in Bitcoin long before his 2018 appointment as an FTX ambassador.

Sorkin countered by citing a 2019 TV appearance in which O'Leary was quoted as calling Bitcoin "garbage."

O'Leary admitted that he was wrong about that. "The point is, it was long before I became a paid spokesperson. Long before."

Sorkin also made a point that, in contrast to Tom Brady or Larry David, investors may anticipate that O'Leary was more knowledgeable about evaluating whether or not FTX constituted an issue.

"Companies advertise, and they do it this way," O'Leary remarked.

On the other hand, he said that he was not going to respond to angry shareholders on Twitter. "I understand that the herd is angry."

His FTX Salary

FTX investors have sued O'Leary, Brady, and David as the company's ambassadors. According to the lawsuits, they should have done more study and been more careful.

In a previous CNBC Squawk Box interview about his failure to investigate FTX's risks, O'Leary blamed "groupthink" even though he and his partners had not lost money.

He claimed he had made $15 million as FTX's spokesman but lost it all. He invested $9.7 million in crypto and over $1 million in FTX stock. Meanwhile, the remaining $4 million was swallowed up by taxes and commissions.