Say what you’ll about creator Michael Lewis, however he does have a knack for locating attention-grabbing characters to write down about.
The newest is Sam Bankman-Fried, the founding father of failed crypto change FTX who’s accused of working “one of many greatest monetary frauds in U.S. historical past.” Lewis’s newest ebook, “Going Infinite,” follows the rise and fall of the person often known as SBF, and comes out Tuesday — the identical day Bankman-Fried’s trial begins in federal courtroom in New York Metropolis.
CBS’s “60 Minutes” aired an interview with Lewis on Sunday night time, during which Lewis delved deep into Bankman-Fried’s historical past and psyche, and revealed juicy tidbits from the ebook, which he compiled from assembly with SBF greater than 100 occasions over two years. Listed below are 5 of the weirdest tales about Bankman-Fried that he informed “60 Minutes”:
SBF performed a videogame throughout his first TV interview
Lewis stated that in Bankman-Fried’s very first TV look, when FTX was gaining notoriety, he was enjoying a videogame by all of it. “Should you watch the clip you’ll be able to see his eyes going backwards and forwards, again (laughs) and forth. It’s as a result of he’s making an attempt to win his videogame on the similar time he’s on the air,” Lewis stated, based on a CBS Information transcript.
The style icon vs. the schlub
In maybe essentially the most fish-out-of-water story ever, Lewis stated Vogue editor-in-chief and style icon Anna Wintour wished Bankman-Fried — who hardly ever wore something apart from shorts and a T-shirt and who Lewis referred to as “the worst-dressed individual in America… the worst-dressed billionaire within the historical past of billionaires” — to sponsor the swanky Met Gala. “Sam was a social experiment,” Lewis stated. He had “seemingly infinite {dollars}” and was keen to offer it away. “All people involves the trough,” Lewis stated, including that when Bankman-Fried took a Zoom assembly with Wintour, he had no thought who she was.
SBF and Tom Brady had been buddies. For actual.
Lewis stated Bankman-Fried paid athletes and celebrities ridiculous quantities of cash for endorsements, together with $55 million to now-former NFL quarterback Tom Brady for “20 hours a yr for 3 years.”
Surprisingly — or maybe not, given the $55 million — Brady “adored him,” Lewis stated.
“I feel Tom Brady thought he was only a actually attention-grabbing individual. I feel he appreciated to listen to what he needed to say,” Lewis stated. “And he actually appreciated Tom Brady. And Sam wasn’t, like, a giant sports activities individual… The nerd of all nerds. (laughs) Like, even the nerds don’t hang around with this nerd, he’s such a nerd. (laughs) The quarterback one way or the other likes him. And he one way or the other likes the quarterback.”
FTX’s collapse and the next fraud expenses apparently modified Brady’s thoughts. “Brady was, I feel, crushed,” Lewis stated. “And I feel as time has passed by, and he’s ceased to get a extremely good rationalization about what’s occurred — I feel he’s identical to, ‘He tricked me. I’m offended. I don’t wanna have something to do with it anymore.’”
SBF wished to pay Trump to not run
Bankman-Fried has donated many tens of millions of {dollars} to each Republicans and Democrats, however he was so nervous about Donald Trump — who he thought-about a menace to democracy — that he thought-about paying Trump to not run for president in 2024, Lewis stated.
“Sam’s pondering, ‘We might pay Donald Trump to not run for president. Like, how a lot wouldn’t it take?’” Lewis stated. “So he did get a solution. He was floated — there was a quantity that was kicking round. And the quantity that was kicking round after I was speaking to Sam about this was $5 billion, Sam was unsure that quantity got here straight from Trump.”
These talks by no means went wherever, clearly, and Bankman-Fried was uncertain in regards to the legality of paying Trump to not run, Lewis stated. However these discussions reportedly stopped when FTX collapsed and Bankman-Fried misplaced virtually his whole fortune.
Jail wouldn’t be so unhealthy, if…
Bankman-Fried faces greater than 100 years in jail if convicted on a mess of federal fraud and conspiracy expenses. When requested what Bankman-Fried fears most about doubtlessly being imprisoned, Lewis had a shocking reply: “Not having the web.”
“Now that sounds loopy, however I do assume that if he had the web, he might survive jail without end,” Lewis stated. “With out having a relentless stream of data to react to — I feel he might go mad.”
Lewis added that if given the selection of residing in a $39 million penthouse within the Bahamas with out web, or be in jail however with web entry, “there’s no query in my thoughts he’d take the jail.”
