John Ray, the new CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is most well known for taking over Enron, a Houston Texas-based energy firm and the 7th largest public company in the United States at the time, that became the U.S.’s largest-ever company to file for bankruptcy.
Ray is considered an expert in the bankruptcy process.
Enron corporate executives used “creative accounting” and financial magic to make it look like Enron was more profitable than it actually was.
Enron’s financial losses were hidden in shell companies and future profits were categorized as real profits before they actually happened.
Ray’s experience in dealing with bankruptcies, but also with a company potentially hiding and shielding the true financial reality of that company, is thought to be why he was brought.
Regarding FTX’s collapse and subsequent bankruptcy in November 2022, Ray stated,
“Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.”
Ray will also have to possibly deal with 130 affiliates and subsidiaries of FTX caught up in FTX’s bankruptcy.