Tom Brady may face a difficult retirement when it comes to finances, as the NFL legend struggles to separate his budding business empire from troubled crypto ventures, including the doomed FTX exchange.
Brady, 45, did not immediately hint at his post-football plans while confirming he is “retiring for good” in a 53-second video announcement posted on his social media accounts on Wednesday. are”.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion is embroiled in legal drama after serving as a key early booster and brand ambassador for FTX, which accused disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried of bilking customers out of billions. There is blame.
Brady and his ex-wife Gisele Bundchen were among a group of celebrity FTX endorsers named in a class-action lawsuit last November. The lawsuit alleges that FTX used Brady and other famous backers to lure unsuspecting investors in what was effectively a Ponzi scheme.
Brady also co-founded NFT marketplace Autograph – a platform that once counted Bankman-Fried as a board member and attracted investors to various crypto-focused startups before the tech sector’s disruptions affected it. sustained interest from.
Autograph didn’t escape the industry-wide downturn. In December, the Brady-backed startup cited “market challenges” after laying off “dozens” of employees. The insider reported.. Bankman-Fried’s name also quietly disappeared from Autograph’s website, although the exact timeline for her departure from the board was unclear.
Brady has been front and center in FTX’s marketing efforts — once appearing in a Fourth of July video in which he used a flamethrower to melt a snowflake with a cryptocurrency token on it. When FTX filed for bankruptcy, Brady quietly deleted all of his tweets about the company.
Last month, court filings revealed that Brady owned more than 1.1 million common shares of FTX at the time of the bankruptcy, while Bündchen owned more than 686,000 common shares. Forbes estimated that Brady’s stake was worth $45 million before the FTX collapse.
In December, longtime New England Patriots fan Michael Leveritos sued Brady, alleging that the NFL legend’s involvement with FTX caused him to funnel nearly all of his life savings into the bankruptcy platform. .
Tom Brady as a big FTX endorser.
TB12 is just one part of Brady’s business empire.
Tom Brady co-founded an NFT marketplace called Autograph.
Tom Brady retired as the NFL’s all-time scoring leader.
Difficult crypto ventures are just one consideration for Brady, who parlayed his on-field success into one of the most profitable brands in American sports history. He is the NFL’s all-time earnings leader, with more than $500 million in total earnings on and off the field. According to Forbes.
During his 23-year NFL career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady earned more than $332 million in salary and bonuses. According to Spotrac.
Brady already has a lucrative TV gig in the form of a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox Sports. Signed last year, the deal was to kick in whenever Brady hung up his cleats and make him the highest-paid sports commentator of all time.
Brady used his “Let’s go!” expressed excitement for a possible future in broadcasting during a recent episode of The podcast
“I get to be in a job in the future where I get to move around and learn from all the other people that I’ve seen and admired and from different organizations and different people,” Brady said. said “So it’s exciting for me as well. I feel like the opportunity to do that is something I’m really looking forward to whenever the time comes.
Elsewhere, Brady has his own fitness and lifestyle brand, TB12. Brady’s portfolio includes Subway, Hertz and Under Armour.
The NFL legend has also made waves in Hollywood. He is set to star in the upcoming comedy “80 for Brady” alongside acclaimed actresses Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field, which is slated for release later this year. The film is produced by 199 Productions, a firm founded by Brady.
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