FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried ignored a helping hand from the CEO of Jefferies 4 months ago as the exec tried to reach out with financial advice

• Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy after a shocking collapse this week. 
• Jefferies CEO Rich Handler said he could have helped FTX avoid its financial troubles if Bankman-Fried had taken a meeting with him months ago.
• Handler wrote in a July email that his firm's expertise in rescuing financial services companies could be worthwhile for FTX. 

Jefferies CEO Rich Handler revealed Wednesday that FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried ignored offers for a meeting earlier this year, months before the crypto exchange's shocking collapse this week.

Handler posted on Twitter screenshots of emails he sent to an unidentified colleague over the summer, recounting his attempts to reach out.

"Do you know Sam Bankman-Fried? He seems in over his head and could quickly be in a precarious position," he wrote in a July 7 email. "Our expertise in rescuing financial services companies might make it worthwhile to meet w him and begin a relationship. Just a thought."

—Rich Handler (@HandlerRich) November 10, 2022

The emails show that Handler raised a potential dinner date between himself and Bankman-Fried, but the FTX chief never responded or took any meetings. 

"What he is going through is not going to pass as quickly as he might wish and you can quickly become the rescuee versus the rescuer if you are not careful," Handler wrote. 

Later on in September, according to another email screenshot on Twitter, he extended another helping hand while he was in the Bahamas. 

"I'm at the Rosewood Hotel in the Bahamas today," Handler wrote to a colleague September 16. "Do we have a smart way to see if the FTX guy wants to grab lunch? I believe he is here." 

—Rich Handler (@HandlerRich) November 10, 2022

 

The next photo in the tweet reads, "No response and no meeting/discussion."

Finally, in another tweet of an email sent Tuesday — as FTX's liquidity crunch became clear — Handler wrote: "Sure looks like Sam Bankman-Fried should have taken the meeting. :)" 

Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried broke his silence on Thursday amid his exchange's implosion and mounting losses. 

"Transparently--my hands were tied during the duration of the possible Binance deal; I wasn't particularly allowed to say much publicly. But of course it's on me that we ended up there in the first place," he wrote as part of a string of tweets. "The full story here is one I'm still fleshing out every detail of, but [at] a very high level, I f*cked up twice."