Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Larry David probed over FTX endorsements

Celebrities who endorsed the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency trading platform FTX — including Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, and Larry David — may soon learn not to mess with Texas state regulators.

Joe Rotunda, the director of enforcement at the Texas State Securities Board, told Bloomberg News on Monday that his agency is investigating payments made to star athletes and entertainers who pitched the failed crypto exchange run by disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Rotunda is examining the extent to which these celebrity endorsers disclosed their financial stakes in FTX as well as how accessible the disclosures were to retail investors.

“We are taking a close look at them,” Rotunda told Bloomberg News on Monday.

Rotunda added that celebrity endorsements of FTX are not the main priority of the investigation. Rather, they’re one of the elements that are being looked at.

Rotunda said that FTX is also a focus of the investigation. Texas officials are said to be in contact with regulators in other states who are also looking into potential securities violations by FTX and FTX-linked entities.

Regulators have not shied away from going after celebrity endorsers of cryptocurrency. Last month, reality television star Kim Kardashian agreed to pay a $1.26 million fine to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC alleged that Kardashian promoted a cryptocurrency initiative on her Instagram feed without disclosing to her tens of millions of followers that she was a paid celebrity endorser. The reality TV star did not deny or admit to the charges.

Kardashian and former boxer Floyd Mayweather were named in a lawsuit earlier this year alleging they misled their online followers into buying cryptocurrency as part of a “pump and dump” scheme. Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce was also named in the suit.

Last week, an Oklahoma resident who opened an FTX yield-bearing account filed a class action lawsuit naming Brady, Curry, David, Brady’s supermodel ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, Shaquille O’Neal, David Ortiz, Naomi Osaka, Trevor Lawrence, Kevin O’Leary, and Udonis Haslem.

Brady and Bündchen, who also appeared in commercials touting FTX, bought equity stakes in the company, which was forced to file for bankruptcy protection after it was learned that customer deposits were being used to make risky bets through a subsidiary research firm.

David, the “Seinfeld” co-creator and star of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for FTX in which he is seen expressing skepticism about investing in…