Sam Bankman-Fried's ex finally got a new job — suspiciously like the old one

Everyone deserves a second chance, according to Caroline Ellison's new boss.

Upon reading Ellison's Tumblr page and Substack, the CEO thinks readers will understand too.

'I believe in redemption.'

Ellison infamously ran Alameda research, a crypto-investment firm, while dating disgraced crypto-exchange mogul and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Alameda, which was also founded by Bankman-Fried, had a $65 billion line of credit with FTX and was used to lend Bankman-Fried money to allegedly make political donations.

Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges, but she was released after 11 months.

Now, the CEO of a nonprofit says Ellison has been working for him since July and accepted a full-time role in August to "develop our funding platform and research how to effectively direct philanthropic dollars."

Austin Chen runs Manifund, which describes itself as a nonprofit that "helps great charities get the funding they need."

Chen admitted in a recent blog post that he felt indebted to the FTX Future Fund, the charitable arm of FTX that funded Manifold Markets, which was also founded by Chen, with Manifund operating as a side project.

"I believe in redemption," Chen wrote. "Caroline has admitted her faults, worked to make creditors whole, and served her time in prison. I'd like to give her the opportunity to contribute back to the world; I hope that the world will concur."

Chen boasted about Ellison's online accounts as the first thing that attracted him to her professionally, including her Tumblr titled "Fake Charity Nerd Girl."

RELATED: Caroline Ellison, Sam Bankman-Fried's partner in FTX crime, sprung early from prison

Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The CEO also cited Ellison's writings on an effective altruism website. While "EA" is described as a philosophical movement with the intention of providing the greatest amount of evidence-based good, it is effectively a nonprofit movement that justifies its decision-making by declaring its own moral leanings as impartial.

"Poverty and disease remain unsolved; billions of animals suffer hell on earth," Chen wrote in relation to the hiring. "I, my team, and many EAs I know, are often burning the midnight candle to address these wrongs. I don't wish to sideline a pair of capable hands."

In the same post, Ellison was revealed to have been writing under the pseudonym "Carol" for the company and provided statements about her new role.

"I'm deeply sorry for what I did, and I completely understand why people may not want to work with me," Ellison said of her past. "But I'm very grateful to Austin for giving me a second chance, and judging me on my current work performance rather than my past. I feel very lucky not only to have a job, but to be working somewhere that I think is doing great work and has a mission I believe in."

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

With Ellison at the head, Alameda Research allegedly used $100 million of FTX customer deposits to bribe Chinese officials. She blamed Bankman-Fried:

"He directed me to commit these crimes," Ellison reportedly said in court.

During trial, Ellison reportedly told jurors that Alameda Research would lend money to Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives for political donations. Bankman-Fried donated a reported $70 million to Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms; he was the second-highest donor behind George Soros.

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