I donât see any deep problem with a funder saying to Will and Nick, âI trust your judgment, so please help guide the Future Fund, including by disbursing however much you think is needed or ideal for your existing orgs (CEA/âEVF).â Itâs only a conflict of interests if the funder doesnât really trust them (or has different philanthropic priorities), right?
Of course, often we donât trust people, so we put up conflict of interest rules. But itâs not clear that such rules would have been desirable in this case. After all, there would seem obvious reasons for SBF to both (i) want Willâs & Nickâs guidance for the Future Fund, and (ii) want to support CEAâs work.
On second thought, youâre right. SBF was fine with using FTX money to buy beachfront mansions in the Bahamas, so it probably does fit with SBFâs âphilanthropic prioritiesâ. But then SBF is a conman, so I really donât think âItâs what SBF would have wantedâ is a very good justification for any of this!
And CEA/âEVF wants to keep the money that was probably stolen from FTX customers because....why, exactly? Whatâs the ethical justification here?
I donât see any deep problem with a funder saying to Will and Nick, âI trust your judgment, so please help guide the Future Fund, including by disbursing however much you think is needed or ideal for your existing orgs (CEA/âEVF).â Itâs only a conflict of interests if the funder doesnât really trust them (or has different philanthropic priorities), right?
Of course, often we donât trust people, so we put up conflict of interest rules. But itâs not clear that such rules would have been desirable in this case. After all, there would seem obvious reasons for SBF to both (i) want Willâs & Nickâs guidance for the Future Fund, and (ii) want to support CEAâs work.
On second thought, youâre right. SBF was fine with using FTX money to buy beachfront mansions in the Bahamas, so it probably does fit with SBFâs âphilanthropic prioritiesâ. But then SBF is a conman, so I really donât think âItâs what SBF would have wantedâ is a very good justification for any of this!
And CEA/âEVF wants to keep the money that was probably stolen from FTX customers because....why, exactly? Whatâs the ethical justification here?