It looks like Caroline Ellison has come out of stealth mode. A nonprofit CEO announced Friday that he secretly gave a job to Ellison, who went to prison in connection with fraud by Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange. Austin Chen, the founder of Manifund, a donor with ties to the effective altruism movement, wrote on Substack that Ellison, 31, will develop his platform and research “how to effectively direct philanthropic dollars.” as a second chance for Ellison. “I believe in redemption,” he wrote. “Caroline admitted her wrongdoing, worked to compensate creditors and served her prison sentence. I would like to give her the opportunity to contribute to the world; I hope the world agrees.” Manifund began as a charitable side project of Manifold Markets, a prediction market company co-founded by Chen. Manifold was previously backed by the FTX Future Fund, a philanthropic initiative, which Chen noted in the blog. Chen confirmed the news in a brief text message to Business Insider. He did not provide documentation about Ellison’s new role. Ellison could not be reached for comment. The blog contained a message on Ellison’s behalf. “I deeply regret what I did and I completely understand why people don’t want to work with me,” he said. “But I am very grateful to Austin for giving me a second chance and judging me on my current job performance instead of my past. I feel very lucky to not only have a job, but to be working at a place that I believe does great work and has a mission that I believe in.” Want more Business Insider in your news? Add BI on Google to make our reports easier to find when you’re looking for what matters. Ellison previously ran Alameda Research, the FTX-affiliated crypto trading firm. In December 2022, he pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in connection with his role in misusing FTX customer funds to cover Alameda’s debts and business losses. Ellison testified against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and was sentenced to two years in prison. She was released from federal custody in January and had kept a low profile. Chen wrote that he invited Ellison to Manifest 2026, a festival the nonprofit held in June. She began a “work trial” on July 13 before becoming full-time on Aug. 10, she said. During that period, she had been publishing her work for Manifund under the pseudonym “Carol,” she said. “I apologize for our little deception in using a pseudonym for the past two months,” he wrote. “I still support doing this; I think it’s relatively common to work with people under a pseudonym, when their real identity is famous. But I want to point out that we have compromised transparency here, which I don’t take lightly.” “It is likely to damage the reputation not only of Manifund but of all types of EA organizations that will suffer collateral damage.” Chen responded, in part: “Obviously, I hope to be proven right in this decision, but it may take a while to reverse it.” One person who said he lost money in the FTX debacle expressed his fury. “Every dollar I earn for the next 70 years should be seized and sent to victims like me and thousands of my friends,” he wrote.
