The Block CEO steps down after failing to disclose publication was funded by SBF

Mike McCaffrey announces he is stepping down as The Block CEO. In a Twitter thread, he admits secretly receiving $27 million in investments from the infamous Sam Bankman-Fried.

McCaffrey revealed that the publication he led as a CEO since 2020 had received two major investments from SBF. In 2021, a $12 million tranche came, and in early 2022, an additional $15 million was received, according to a Tweet by McCaffrey:

2/ In early 2021, The Block was in a precarious place, and I was evaluating whether to sell, merge or restructure. The only option that materialized was to restructure when I was able to obtain a $12 million loan for my holding company from SBF in Feb of 2021.

— Mike McCaffrey (@McCaffrMike) December 9, 2022

The now-former CEO also admitted that no one in the crypto media knew about the source of funding:

“I didn’t disclose the loan to anyone. Absolutely no one at The Block knew about the financial arrangement between my holding company and SBF.”

Mike McCaffrey, former CEO at The Block

The founder of The Block, Mike Dudas, claimed that the situation was ‘the worst personal betrayal of his entire life’.

it’s business betrayal

you are all going to learn about it shortly

and i was given at most hours to process it

devastated beyond belief

— Mike Dudas (⛳️,🏆) (@mdudas) December 9, 2022

In a separate comment, Dudas hinted that he was ‘bought out’ by McCaffrey’s family in 2021:

“My understanding was that Mike McCaffrey’s family was wealthy and loaned him money to buy out me and the VCs so the team could assume full independent ownership,” The Block Founder @mdudas said to TechCrunch.

— Jacquelyn Melinek (@jacqmelinek) December 9, 2022

In a tweet that is now deleted, The Block’s editor-at-large Frank Chaparro mocked McCaffrey with the F-word.