Ellison was far from an unwitting front-person during her time at Alameda, said Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, in his opening argument in defense of Bankman-Fried. Instead, she was firmly in control of the reins at the trading fund – and her poor leadership, according to Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, is what ultimately placed the firm into dire financial straits. At one point, “as the majority owner of Alameda, Bankman-Fried spoke to Ms. Ellison, the CEO, and he urged her to put on a hedge,” Cohen told the jury. “She didn’t do so at the time,” but if she had followed Bankman-Fried’s advice, she “would have offset some of this.”
