--- description: Find out why Sam Bankman-Fried is one of the 100 most influential people of 2022. title: Sam Bankman-Fried: The 100 Most Influential People of 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2960b96898cb6560/698a3204457a520b04d66746/Sam-Bankman-Fried-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 23, 2022 # Sam Bankman-Fried by Andrew R. Chow  Sam Bankman-Fried Sam Bankman-FriedLam Yik Fei—The New York Times/Redux Few have had a bigger impact on [cryptocurrency’s ascendance](https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/future-of-cryptocurrency/ "undefined") in mainstream culture over the past two years than Sam Bankman-Fried. The 30-year-old founder of the [exchange platform FTX](https://time.com/6076714/tom-brady-gisele-bundchen-crypto-ftx/ "undefined") has become a key public face of crypto, using every tool imaginable to convince the public of its strengths, whether that’s hiring Larry David for a Super Bowl commercial, renaming the Miami Heat’s arena after his company, donating millions to political campaigns, or [testifying in front of Congress. ](https://time.com/6126268/cryptocurrency-ceos-congress-hearing/ "undefined") Bankman-Fried is working to reshape the way the world sees crypto because he believes in its transformative power for good. As an ­effective altruist, Bankman-Fried believes crypto can help democratize financial markets and reduce poverty and corruption. And Bankman-­Fried puts his money where his mouth is: while many other crypto mavens flaunt their Lamborghinis and yachts, Bankman-Fried—who’s worth around $20 billion—often sleeps on a beanbag in his office and has pledged he will give 99% of his earnings to philanthropic causes. In a crypto landscape ridden with [scams](https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/common-crypto-scams/ "undefined"), hedonism, and greed, Bankman-Fried offers a kinder and more impactful vision brought forth by the nascent technology. _Chow is a TIME correspondent_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177770/sam-bankman-fried/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177770/sam-bankman-fried/"},"headline":"Sam Bankman-Fried","datePublished":"2022-05-23T10:06:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:11.440Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177770/sam-bankman-fried/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","TIME100 2022"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2960b96898cb6560/698a3204457a520b04d66746/Sam-Bankman-Fried-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2960b96898cb6560/698a3204457a520b04d66746/Sam-Bankman-Fried-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177770/sam-bankman-fried/","name":"Sam Bankman-Fried"}}]}] ```