Sam Trabucco posted on X on Aug. 24, 2022 that he was stepping down as co-chief executive of Alameda Research1. “It's with the same goal that I'm announcing today that I am stepping down as co-CEO of Alameda Research,” Trabucco wrote. “@carolinecapital will continue on as Alameda's CEO. I will stay on as an advisor, but otherwise will not continue to have a strong day-to-day presence at the company”.
Two leadership moves at Alameda Research on the record since 2021
Every move CryptoLately has verified there, by the day it became public
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct. 12, 2021 | Ellison became Co-CEO. Caroline Ellison was named Co-Chief Executive Officer of Alameda Research |
| Aug. 24, 2022 | Trabucco left as Co-CEO. Sam Trabucco left as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Alameda Research |
Nine executive exits on the record in 2022
Executive exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2022: 9
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 9 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 27 |
The move
CoinDesk reported the same day that Trabucco was becoming an adviser while fellow co-CEO Caroline Ellison remained as the firm's sole chief executive2. Trabucco told CoinDesk he had significantly reduced his role at Alameda over the prior months as he reached a point where he needed to step back from work. "I needed to relax," he said, "and I'm really, really happy".
Why leave ten months into a co-CEO title? CoinDesk had described Alameda as operating “a vast network of trading, yield farming, startup investments and market making”2. Trabucco left the reason at that. His next crypto venture stayed open, he said: “I wouldn't rule anything out in the future once I feel more 'recovered'”. CoinDesk sought comment from FTX, the exchange also founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, and ran the piece before any answer arrived.
Alameda before and after
Trabucco and Ellison had taken the co-CEO titles together on Oct. 12, 2021, when founder Sam Bankman-Fried stepped back to focus on FTX, CoinDesk's August 2022 report noted2. Both had pre-crypto ties to Bankman-Fried. CoinDesk recounted that he hired Ellison, who had worked with him at Jane Street, in 2018, and Trabucco, a Susquehanna bond trader and MIT friend, a year later. With Trabucco's exit, Ellison alone ran a firm CoinDesk had called one of the crypto market's trading behemoths.
What came next
A bankruptcy filing laid out what the departure cost Trabucco. CoinDesk reported on Nov. 11, 2024 that Trabucco had agreed to forfeit two San Francisco apartments worth $8.7 million. He also gave up a 53-foot yacht he bought in March 2022 for $2.5 million, and the rights to roughly $70 million in claims he had filed against FTX, to settle with the exchange's bankruptcy estate3. The filing, dated Nov. 3, 2024, stated that Trabucco had received about $40 million in "potentially avoidable transfers" from debtors during his two years at the trading firm. CoinDesk noted that Trabucco left Alameda in August 2022, months before both Alameda and FTX filed for bankruptcy that December. His public record stopped short of any admission of wrongdoing or claimed knowledge of criminal activity at the firm, the outlet reported.
Sources
- Sam Trabucco, post announcing he is stepping down as co-CEO of Alameda Research, X, Aug. 24, 2022, https://x.com/alamedatrabucco/status/1562519118741323778
- Nelson Wang, "Co-CEO of Crypto Trading Firm Alameda Research Sam Trabucco Steps Down," CoinDesk, Aug. 24, 2022, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/24/co-ceo-of-crypto-trading-firm-alameda-research-sam-trabucco-steps-down
- Helene Braun, "Former Alameda Co-CEO Sam Trabucco Agrees to Forfeit $70M, Yacht, Apartments to FTX Creditors," CoinDesk, Nov. 11, 2024, https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/11/11/former-alameda-co-ceo-sam-trabucco-agrees-to-forfeit-70m-yacht-apartments-to-ftx-creditors