A co-CEO of principal trading giant Alameda Research is stepping down as he “can’t justify the time investment” to the company.
Sam Trabucco joined the Hong Kong firm, which provides liquidity in cryptocurrency and digital assets markets, as a trader in 2019.
He was appointed co-CEO alongside Caroline Ellison a year ago by founder Sam Bankman-Fried, a friend from MIT who wanted to devote all of his time to crypto exchange giant FTX.
Alameda engages in trading, yield farming, startup investments and market making. It manages billions of dollars worth of assets.
Trabucco, a former competitive Scrabble player, admitted to “not really working at all” over the past few months in a Twitter thread.
Ellison replied: “It’s been an incredibly formative experience working with @AlamedaTrabucco.
“I’ve missed having him around in recent months, but I’m proud of all the other Alameda employees who have stepped up and [am] more excited than ever about our future.
“I hope he has a great time on his boat!”
It’s been an incredibly formative experience working with @AlamedaTrabucco. I’ve missed having him around in recent months, but I’m proud of all the other Alameda employees who have stepped up and more excited than ever about our future. I hope he has a great time on his boat! https://t.co/HqA2gz0FvL
— Caroline (@carolinecapital) August 24, 2022
Trabucco described his time at Alameda as “the most formative of my life” and said that in the past, he “couldn’t think of anything more worthwhile to do with [his] time than to give it to Alameda”.
That has now changed – but he will stay on as an advisor.
“Over the past few months, I have significantly reduced my role at Alameda… certainly not acting as the company’s CEO,” wrote Trabucco.
“Everyone works really hard here, and spending a ‘normal’ amount of time at work is tricky – especially when you’re trying to be a leader.
“It’s honestly been a thrill to be a part of, despite being difficult and exhausting and consuming. But I’ve reached a point in life where I have to prioritize other things.
“What other things? I’m really not sure, exactly. Lately I’ve been really happy, spending a lot of time traveling, visiting friends and family, working on “myself” and whatnot. Also I bought a boat, that’s been cool. I needed to relax, and I’m really, really happy.
I can’t 100% remove myself from crypto without going into withdrawal, so I’ll probably still be around here to some extent… I wouldn’t rule anything out in the future once I feel more ‘recovered’.
“If I’ve learned anything at Alameda, it’s how to make good decisions – and this is the right one for me.”