Ex-FTX US President Brett Harrison Denies Involvement in Scandal

• Brett Harrison debunks rumors linking him with the alleged FTX fraud, and said he left the company over breakdown of relationship with SBF.
• The former FTX US president said he was isolated from key decision-making processes.
• Harrison suspects that SBF might have suffered a form of addiction or mental health issue.

Former FTX US president, Brett Harrison has debunked rumors linking him with the alleged fraud executed by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and his team at FTX. According to Harrison, the scheme was run by SBF and a few members of an inner caucus who were based in the Bahamas. It is an initiative that started long before he joined FTX for a seventeen-months stint as an executive.

Harrison shared details about his time at FTX US, and why he left the company after working with them for only seventeen months. In a 49-part Twitter thread, he gave insight into how he joined FTX, his relationship with SBF, and the actual reason behind his leaving the company. Harrison exonerated himself from the now-public fraudulent activities for which SBF and other members of his executive are facing trial.

According to Harrison, his early days at FTX were full of optimism. He worked independently and helped the company to foster a professional environment prepared for regulated business. He did this while growing the team back in the U.S., away from SBF who was in the Bahamas.

Their relationship deteriorated when SBF became overbearing and intolerant of conflicting opinions. He noticed signs of insecurity and intransigence on the part of SBF whenever his decisions were questioned. This volatility in SBF’s temperament led Harrison to suspect that he might have suffered a form of addiction or mental health issue.

Harrison claimed ignorance of underlying issues in FTX that precipitated the ensuing conflict between them. Things deteriorated to the point that he was isolated from key decision-making processes in the company. Managerial responsibility became restricted to SBF and his Bahamas-based executives.

Unable to continue, Harrison made a formal complaint in April 2022, threatening to resign his position. That action was met with a threat to retract the complaint and issue an already-written apology. For him, that was the end point of his relationship with FTX. However, he managed his exit in a way not to harm the company and his FTX US reports.

Harrison expressed shock over the now-public information on fraudulent activities in FTX. In hindsight, he believes that the team in the Bahamas worked together as a syndicate to perpetrate nefarious activities. He exempted himself and the team at FTX US from any knowledge of the process orchestrated by SBF and his inner circle at FTX.com and Alameda.