Shaquille O’Neal Caught Up In Lawsuit

Attorneys of the affected clients of FTX have sent a legal notice to former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal outside his Atlanta home on 16th April.

According to lawyers, O’Neal was reportedly out of reach for three months as process servers struggled to give him an official notice, lawyers claimed.

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by Oklahoma native Edwin Garrison, a client of the troubled exchange, and is being handled by attorneys Adam Moskowitz and David Boies.

“We just served personally Shaquille O’Neal outside his house with a copy of our complaint at 4 pm,” Moskowitz wrote in an email. “We took Judge Moore’s instructions very seriously and are glad to finally end this silly sideshow.”

In late June, O’Neal appeared in an FTX commercial saying “I’m all in. Are you?” When asked why he consented to the ad, he cited his friendship with Steph Curry [one of the celebrity endorsers] as the reason.

However, O’Neal made an effort to dissociate himself after FTX’s collapse in late 2022.

The 50-year-old businessman and Basketball Hall of Fame achiever answered inquiries about his connection to FTX during an interview with CNBC in December.

“A lot of people think I’m involved, but I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial,” O’Neal said. 

At least 11 celebrity endorsers are caught up in the FTX drama for appearing in paid advertising campaigns and endorsing the beleaguered exchange including Steph Curry, Tom Brady, and comedian Larry David.

Recent reports indicate that the bankrupt trading platform under new management is interested in making a comeback by July after announcing that it has regained $7.3 billion in liquid assets.

FTX Hopes To Reopen For Business By July

As reported by TronWeekly, these assets included $2 billion in cash, $4.3 billion in Class A cryptocurrencies, $300 million in securities, and $600 million in investment receivables, etc.

Andy Dietderich, the main attorney for the exchange told in court that relaunching is one of many options being evaluated for the future of the firm.

But, according to Dietderich, this would require raising a significant amount of funds. He also revealed that the firm had an internal debate over whether the funding should come from the FTX estate or from outside sources.

The attorney noted that the decision to restart FTX is just one of many alternatives and is not yet finalized.