In the meantime, Robinhood reported its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings for 2021, which showed a surge in revenue driven by growth in customer accounts and trading volume.
Robinhood recently announced that its board of directors has approved a plan to buy up to 55 million shares originally acquired by Sam Bankman-Fried in May 2022. This follows the Department of Justice seizing the shares in January. The company's stock rose 3% in after-hours trading in response to the news, as well as the release of the fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report.
Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick told CNBC that the board has authorized the company to buy back the shares, but the timeline of the move remains uncertain due to lack of precedent. The DOJ filing states that Bankman-Fried held 55,273,469 Robinhood shares, valued at over $578 million as of Wednesday's close. These shares were funded by loans taken out directly from Alameda Research by Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, the other FTX co-founder.
The buyback of the shares is subject to Robinhood's negotiations with the DOJ, and the company said it will provide updates as appropriate. The fourth-quarter and full-year earnings for 2021 showed a surge in revenue driven by growth in customer accounts and trading volume. This news, along with the buyback plan, has been met with enthusiasm from Robinhood's shareholders.