Bankman-Fried and Musk on Forbes 2022 ‘notable career failures’ list

The most noteworthy career failures of 2022, according to Forbes, include those of Elon Musk, Kanye “Ye” West, and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

SBF, founder, and former FTX CEO

Some people may never be trusted or appear credible again, while others may rebrand themselves or bounce back stronger.

The demise of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange may serve to mark the end of an era, much like Enron and Lehman Brothers did. We are currently working to understand what transpired at FTX and its larger ramifications at this time. 

The FTX fall guy is Bankman-Fried, a crypto wunderkind who was valued at $26.5 billion approximately a year ago. Currently, he claims to have just about $100,000 in cash and may plead guilty to fraud charges. 

The collapse of FTX shed attention on the venture capitalists, pension funds, and asset managers that invested billions in a firm with no CFO, no board of directors, and no transparency regarding its business strategy, in addition to revealing the control and cult of secrecy that SBF developed.

Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter CEO

Musk hoped to avoid purchasing Twitter. He announced on Dec.20 that he would step down as CEO once a new leader is selected after his poll revealed that most users don’t want him to lead it. That’s good.

A case study in terrible leadership, Musk’s tenure has been rocky since the $44 billion transaction closed on Oct.28. While positioning himself as a supporter of freedom, he has mishandled layoffs, insulted users, changed his mind about policy, and frozen some journalists’ accounts. He has also threatened to ban accounts or posts that promote competing websites.

As the mistakes mounted, investors’ concerns about Musk’s capacity to manage Tesla, an electric vehicle and renewable energy firm, and the other businesses he runs, increased. As a result, Twitter’s revenue decreased, along with Musk’s net worth and Tesla’s stock price.

Kanye (“Ye”), musician & businessman

In a startling act of hatred and instability, Kanye West, the musician and businessman popularly known as “Ye” destroyed his reputation, wealth, and enterprises in 2022. It all started in October when he appeared at his Yeezy design presentation wearing a White Lives Matter T-shirt before calling Black Lives Matter “a hoax.” 

Additionally, he criticized everyone from artist Lizzo to Pete Davidson, who dated his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. He claimed that LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault was responsible for the cancer-related death of fashion designer Virgil Abloh. But West’s anti-Semitic tirades, which included professing “love” for Hitler and threatening to “death con 3 on Jewish people,” proved to be the tipping point.

Adidas dropped West despite the artist’s taunts that the company would never do so; this robbed West of his Yeezy brand and his billionaire status. West is currently becoming more alienated and rejected.

Bad moves and a lot of money

Despite a series of bad decisions, both Elon Musk and Ye both still sit on loads of cash. SBF, on the other hand, isn’t likely to be left with much after all the legal circus is over, and he may even be spending the next few decades in federal prison.

Fortunes can change in an instant, and in 2022, Ye, Musk, and SBF saw their luck turn sour. Elon Musk may come out ahead as social media evolves, but SBF and Ye aren’t going to recover from 2022 anytime soon!