Who is Caroline Ellison?

The shadow figure behind FTX's collapse

Ellison grew up in the suburbs of Boston.

Her father, Glenn Ellison, is the department head of economics

at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Photo: William B. Plowman/Getty Images He once reported directly to Gary Gensler, the current chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ellison's mother Sara Fisher Ellison, is a senior lecturer in economics at MIT. "We definitely got exposed to a lot of economics," Ellison once told Forbes in an interview.

When she was eight years old, Ellison reportedly wrote her father

An economics paper analyzing stuffed animal prices at Toys 'R' Us. Photo: Pixavril/Shutterstock

Ellison, who attended Newton North High School,

ad a special aptitude for mathematics. Photo: Pixabay via Google Images She would flex her skills in competitions like the Math Prize for Girls, which bills itself as "the largest math prize for girls in the world."

Ruth Ackerman, a math professor who taught Ellison

described Ellison to Forbes as "bright, focused, very mathy." Photo: Ben Margot/AP In 2012, Ellison enrolled at Stanford University, where she studied mathematics.

Like her future colleague, Bankman-Fried,

Ellison began exploring effective altruism in college. Photo: Orbon Alija/ Getty Images It's a philosophical movement that uses calculations to understand how people can use their time, money, and resources to best help others. She eventually joined Stanford's Effective Altruism Club.

After college, Ellison went to work for the trading firm Jane Street.

There, she met Bankman-Fried Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images There, she met Bankman-Fried, and the two supposedly bonded over their interest in effective altruism.

By 2018, Bankman-Fried persuaded Ellison to join him.

His crypto trading firm called Alameda Research Photo: FTX "This was very much like, 'oh, yeah, we don't really know what we're doing,'" Ellison told Forbes of her initial impressions of Alameda.

They moved from Berkeley to Hong Kong in 2018

Where they lived like college students and fiercely traded crypto. Photo: Aaron Chown/WPA Pool/Getty Images Aside from Ellison, the Alameda Research crew included SBF's close friends Nishad Singh, Gary Wang, and Sam Trabucco. Ellison was the only female on the team. While the others played video games, she'd be watching the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

After SBF established FTX in 2019

Ellison began taking more responsibility at Alameda Research. Photo: Forbes 30 Under 30. She and her colleague, Sam Trabucco, were featured in Forbes' 30 Under 30 in 2022.