Former FTX US President Brett Harrison recently discussed why he left the company, which was one of the most successful billion-dollar businesses.
In his most recent Twitter post, he discussed his interactions with Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the now-defunct exchange, and at FTX. Harrison describes his first month at FTX US as "amazing." The former FTX US chairman's view of SBF is “seemed like a sensitive and intellectually curious person who cares about animals, and that endeared him to me.”
11/49 My first few months at FTX US were wonderful. I worked largely independently of Sam to grow a US-based team and foster a professional environment prepared for regulated businesses.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023
Harrison eventually understood, nevertheless, that SBF was still active in the American market. Harrison's decisions were then rejected by the SBF, causing a split in their partnership. However, his decisions frequently arrive "without notice."
15/49 Six months into my time at the company, pronounced cracks began to form in my own relationship with Sam. Around then I began advocating strongly for establishing separation and independence for the executive, legal, and developer teams of FTX US, and Sam disagreed.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023
The former chairman would want to underline that unlike what others may have assumed, given the experiences he had at FTX US in the months before to leaving his post, this was not the "dream job" for him. After months of negotiation about management procedures at FTX, his relationship with "Sam Bankman-Fried and his deputies had completely deteriorated."
3/49 The truth was that FTX US hadn’t felt to me like the dream job it appeared to the industry and media for some time, and my departure was not abrupt.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023
Harrison said that the conflict between him and the SBF came to a head when Sam's allure overcame them all and claimed to have noted a shift in the original SBF as well as "intransigence when his decisions were questioned, his spitefulness, and the instability of his temperament."
21/49 Standing up to an insecure, prideful manager is hard under any circumstance. But it’s nearly impossible when every day, every major voice of culture and commerce deafens you with a narrative that implies if you disagree with your manager *you* clearly must be wrong.
— Brett Harrison (@BrettHarrison88) January 14, 2023
Brett Harrison, who managed the company's growth as it attained unicorn status and branched outside of cryptocurrency to include stock and non-fungible token trading after joining the company as president in May 2021, surprised the crypto community by leaving his position at FTX US at the end of September last year.