Ex-FTX Exec's LinkedIn Update Was a Weird One

Ryan Salame is 'happy to share' that he's starting a new gig as 'Inmate' in federal prison
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 11, 2024 8:59 AM CDT
Ex-FTX Exec Advertises Jail Stint on LinkedIn
Ryan Salame leaves federal court on Sept. 7, 2023, in New York.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

LinkedIn has taken its fair share of hits, accused at times of featuring cringey posts from supposed job-seekers that are "banal" and not completely honest. Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of the FTX Digital Markets crypto firm, may have just broken that mold. Quartz reports that the 30-year-old who used to work closely with FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is set to report to a federal medium-security prison on Friday in Cumberland, Maryland, to start a 7.5-year prison sentence after pleading guilty last year to violating campaign finance laws and operating an unlicensed business—and he chose LinkedIn to announce his new gig.

"I'm happy to share that I'm starting a new position as Inmate at FCI Cumberland!" read Salame's tongue-in-cheek post Thursday on the social media platform, which was accompanied by the standard LinkedIn cartoon graphic of a giant cupcake with happy people celebrating around it. And the comments under Salame's post didn't disappoint. "Are you hashtag#OpenToWork remotely?" one responder snarked. Another noted, "This is absolutely unhinged but refreshingly honest. This is the lack of seriousness LinkedIn needs."

Salame joked about things further on Thursday evening, after his LinkedIn post went viral, noting on X, "Today I learned people still use LinkedIn." Writing for TechCrunch, Amanda Silberling observes, "If you're on your way to prison for fraud, I guess you might as well try to cope through humor." More here on the downfall of Salame and his partner, crypto advocate and former congressional candidate Michelle Bond, who also faces prison time. (More Ryan Salame stories.)

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