Sam Bankman-Fried is poised to cash out up to $100 million of Twitter stock now Elon Musk's takeover has closed, report says

• FTX owner Sam Bankman-Fried could see a cash windfall from Elon Musk's Twitter purchase.
• Bankman-Fried owned up to $100 million of Twitter stock before Musk closed the deal, The Block said.
• Twitter stockholders are set to receive $54.20 per share as part of Musk's $44 billion takeover.

Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried could see a cash windfall from Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, according to The Block.

The FTX owner held a stake in Twitter valued between $50 million and $100 million before Musk completed his takeover of the social-media company on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told the news outlet.

Twitter's stock price has whipsawed this year, as investors initially cheered Musk's takeover offer of $54.20 a share in April, then feared for several months he would back out. They finally breathed a sigh of relief when the world's richest man ultimately closed the deal last week.

It's unclear when Bankman-Fried invested in Twitter, but if he bought the stock in the $30-to-$40 price range it's traded in for most of this year, he could net a profit in the tens of millions of dollars now that Musk's $44 billion buyout has gone through.

Twitter stock closed at $53.70 on Thursday, its highest level since November, making it likely that Bankman-Fried made a significant gain on his wager.

FTX did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Twitter stockholders have seen their shares canceled and converted into the right to receive $54.20 per share, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bankman-Fried may be waiting to receive the cash value of his defunct shares from Musk's appointed paying agent.

In September, Insider's Grace Kay and Kali Hays reported that Bankman-Fried was "potentially interested" in buying Twitter, according to a series of private texts that were revealed during Musk's court battle with the social media firm.

The crypto-exchange boss was also interested in becoming an investor in Twitter as a private company, but he ultimately didn't join Musk's bid, The Block said.

Bankman-Friend has previously said he wanted to share ideas with Musk about technologies used in social media in an attempt to fix the industry's "broken model."