Defunct cryptocurrency company FTX announced today that it would resume "ordinary course payments" of salary and benefits to employees worldwide and certain non-U.S. contractors.
The announcement comes a week after FTX's legal counsel filed a motion to pay compensation, benefits, and relief to its employees and vendors. In the motion, FTX said that the company would not pay anything to Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Caroline Ellison, or "any who have a familial relationship."
"With the Court's approval of our First Day motions and the work being done on global cash management, I am pleased that the FTX group is resuming ordinary course cash payments of salaries and benefits to our remaining employees around the world," FTX CEO John J. Ray III said in a statement.
Ray says the company is making these payments to preserve business operations—subject to the limits approved by the Bankruptcy Court.
Sharing our press release just issued: FTX Resumes Ordinary Course Payments of Employees and Certain Foreign Contractors
https://t.co/8CDnlsvu2j— FTX (@FTX_Official) November 28, 2022
"We recognize the hardship imposed by the temporary interruption in these payments and thank all of our valuable employees and partners for their support," he added.
FTX says vendors and service providers will receive cash payments for all goods and services provided on or after November 11, the day of the company's Chapter 11 filing.
The company added that the payments would only apply to employees or contractors of the FTX debtors, not employees or contractors of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. or to employees or contractors of FTX Australia, which were not included in the FTX Chapter 11 filing in the United States.
Since taking charge of FTX, Ray has attempted to distance the company from its founder, going so far as to publicly say that Bankman-Fried has no ongoing role with the company.