[3][4] After reading books about entertainment players David Geffen, Michael Ovitz and Barry Diller, he decided from an early age he wanted to be a talent agent.
[2] After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford, his first job was as an interim spokesperson for former President Clinton at his Harlem, New York office.
[5] He spent 15 years there,[6] working his way up to agent, representing Katy Perry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Eisenberg and Bruce Willis, among others.
[9] He introduces clients to "a who's who of business and social leaders, from Leonardo DiCaprio to the governor of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
Bankman-Fried was connected to MasterClass,[11] President Clinton, Orlando Bloom, Nelson Peltz, Bobby Kotick, Larry Fink, and Katy Perry, among others.
[8] Bankman-Fried was alleged to have said Kives was “something of a one-stop shop for relationships that we should utilize.”[1] On June 22, 2023, FTX bankruptcy lawyers sued to claw back[12] the $700 million, claiming that the investment was made to burnish his own political and social influence.