Michael Lewis on The Rise and Fall of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried | Intelligence Squared

Michael Lewis is the renowned author of bestselling masterpieces, including Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys and Liar’s Poker. This autumn, he is set to release his most anticipated book to date, which is likely to be one of 2023’s biggest sellers - Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, a gripping, real-time narrative chronicling the enigmatic protagonist behind one of the most catastrophic financial meltdowns of the 21st century.
This character is Sam Bankman-Fried, who became the world’s youngest billionaire before his thirtieth birthday. And Lewis is uniquely positioned to tell his story, having been granted unprecedented access by Bankman-Fried, allowing him to witness his entire tumultuous journey. As Lewis himself puts it, ‘It’s almost as if I was attached to a character who was insistent on generating a beautiful work of fiction for me in real time, in the real world, and allowing me to watch.’
On October 9, Lewis came to the Intelligence Squared stage to relay how, as the crypto frenzy reached its peak, Bankman-Fried’s fortune soared, attracting the attention of CEOs, celebrities, philosophers, charity heads and world leaders, all vying for a piece of his time - and sometimes his money. At one point, he considered paying off the entire national debt of the Bahamas so he could take his business there.
But then it all came crashing down. Bankman-Fried has been charged in US federal court with committing a multi-billion-dollar fraud and, if convicted, faces a lengthy prison term.
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#ftx #sambankmanfried #crypto #cryptocurrency #michaellewis #author #goinginfinite #intelligencesquared #intelligecesquareplus #iq2

[@glennwatson3313]

Michael Lewis is still being scammed by Bankman. Its amazing.

[@unclvinny]

At some point he might realize what a complete sociopath Bankman-Fried is, and that the lying and stealing isn't in service of some glittering higher cause.

[@djmartens123]

Yeah, this is actually crazy to watch.

[@msgrumps]

Lolol I laughed so hard

[@ReallySmartDad]

So true. Well said. We just heard the line of defense. Bankman-Fried just wanted to do good, and got in over his head. Boohoo😢

[@turdferguson6978]

@@ReallySmartDad Biden just wanted to be a good dad, he loved Hunter too much.

[@18000rpm]

The parents don't care about money and material things, yet they accepted a $10M gift from FTX.

[@apollothirteen9236]

They earned every penny of the money & gifts they received. They are brilliant attorneys and worked hard.

[@ageoftarot6881]

all rich people act the same.

[@glennwatson3313]

@@apollothirteen9236 Are you serious?

[@mariobros2867]

@@apollothirteen9236 they didn't

[@apollothirteen9236]

@@mariobros2867 Yes they did. They used there superior intillect to earn that wealth just as my boat captain uses his limited intillect to pilot my yacht.

[@glennwatson3313]

This just goes to show that even a smart man who writes good books can be scammed by a good con artist. Still, you would think Michael Lewis would know better. Talk to Coffeezilla about this.

[@Gedwyn11]

In what way was/is he scammed? What am I missing?

[@glennwatson3313]

@@Gedwyn11 Lewis was trying to write a book about Bankmen before Banksman's scheme became public. Even after the truth came out Lewis want ot sell the book so he is singing Banksman's praises and acting like Bankman is some sort of idiot savant only interested charity, rather than the scam artist he is.

[@surajrajwani8773]

He may have the last laugh. I think this is more like a history of the person. Lewis had mentioned he may write a second book based on everything after FTX collapse.

[@glennwatson3313]

@@surajrajwani8773 Lewis will never write another book about Bankman. No money in it.

[@steveperreira5850]

Joo Foo Yoo Loo! d!p$h!t writer

[@danielosullivan2677]

His parents don't care about money?? His father demanded his salary to be increased from 200k to 1 million

[@rof8200]

Michael lost me. Alameda had a failing high frequency trading system. They were incurring losses. That's why they took money illegally from FTX customers.

[@davidfoss4836]

Enron 2.0, the very worst that SBF faces is having to pay for a presidential pardon from Trump. We have already seen what befell the Enron sounder. After an extensive public humanizing event, the Host population will have to watch criminal justice reform at its worst. Remember that besmirched institutions, Stanford and MIT, have just been exhibited pinching off foul putrid Caroline and SBF as their ultimate product. Stanford and MIT are peopled by Parents of this excrement, acting as mentors but behaving even worse.

[@abdulrazack1683]

True

[@csp103]

Exactly! a fact that Michael conveniently forgets

[@tiararoxeanne1318]

At the time he wrote the book, nobody knew that facts other than SBF and his cronies. It was open to public AFTER SBF's cronies pleaded guilty and cooperated with the law enforcement.

[@benhayward2597]

I've lost so much respect for Michael Lewis for trying to defend this fraudster

[@Ryan_Christopher]

Telling a story and treating a subject as a book character is far from coming to his defense.

[@spencerhopkinson9874]

Lewis is obviously sympathetic. Pure copium.@@Ryan_Christopher

[@FoxInTheBasement]

@@Ryan_Christopher "Lewis argued on the podcast that the onetime multibillionaire was not really a thief, as the prosecution alleged, but merely a gambler who simply borrowed customers’ money and then lost it in a lapse of risk management.“The frustration of the courtroom is that neither side is actually operating in the spirit of honesty,” Lewis said. “Both are trying to make a case, taking stuff out of context, blowing things up and making things mean something different than it actually meant back when it was happening.”"

[@StoliDallas]

I lost respect for him for first defending SBF, then pissing all over his “friend” when his fortunes turned.

[@ElLotdog]

Could you imagine if someone spoke about Bernie Madoff and his firm in the upbeat and chipper way Michael Lewis talks about SBF? It’s truly bizarre

[@EtherealAriel]

Maddoff was different. He had the scheme going for decades through networking the upper classes, SBF could only do 1 year and had to pay large fees for celebrity endorsements.

[@sarahmalan8946]

Like a good salesman, Michael Lewis is just trying to sell his Book and make sure his publisher also makes money. Hence the reason for being upbeat.

[@Sarah-re7cg]

@@sarahmalan8946this has been the best argument someone has provided thus far and I’m annoyed I didn’t think of this lol

[@Tofucapitalist]

The true story of SBF and FTX is far more interesting than the fiction Lewis wrote

[@spencerhopkinson9874]

SBF is not a sympathetic character. Lewis is friends with him. But he's just another scammer.@@Calkimchi

[@NickKautz]

Lewis knows him far better than anyone who chooses what to believe based on how interesting it is. The real SBF is the person being described in this video. If that means you don't get to feel a sadistic pleasure in somebody else's misfortune, then it's a win for everyone.

[@spencerhopkinson9874]

The real SBF is the billion-dollar fraudster. He's going away for life. Cry harder.@@NickKautz

[@Sarah-re7cg]

⁠@@NickKautzcourt filings and legal documents are way more boring than Lewis’ fantastical book he wrote. I’ll go with the prior.

[@NickKautz]

Yes, but people rarely read those documents when I link them. They just want to be mad at Sam because it makes them feel slightly less insignificant in comparison, and there are no consequences when everyone is on your side. Defending him is far more challenging and enlightening. @@Sarah-re7cg

[@margo3367]

Michael Lewis, president of the SBF fan club.

[@DTesting635]

Its sickening listening to this guy. He's just one more victim of the fraud.

[@davidbrady5618]

One thing's for sure should you ever find yourself facing federal prison charges Michael is the man to write your biography. It's like once he decided Sam was the hero of his book there was absolutely nothing that could change the trajectory of the plot or his mind about good-guy Sam.

[@EtherealAriel]

He started writing the book before the collapse so this was always going to be sycophantic and he didn't want to rewrite it.

[@seanwebb605]

@@EtherealAriel Wrong on all accounts.

[@kangzau1006]

Around 3:33 he describes his backstory that he will follow a character and let the story take care of itself. He becomes so infatuated with subject that he has told the story that the subject wants him to tell. There's very little external verification in this book. Just watch the trial instead. Book brought nothing to the table.

[@Sarah-re7cg]

Great, concise comment. Thank you and agreed. When laid out how he was going to write his book, I couldn’t help but think “oh, so literally the opposite of how you should cover someone like this. Great!”

[@alexhubble]

It's nice that he likes SBF, the guy certainly sounds like a character. Sadly, the law doesn't allow co-mingling of funds. Even if it's done by a puppy with a tear in its eye. For precisely these reasons.

[@bobli30]

The writing is on the wall; Lewis' legacy is down to the toilet with SBF; it's a shame.

[@scholarlyreader383]

The fact that he keeps referring to Africa as basket case depict his arrogance and obtuse behavior. He is no different than Africa.

[@animaaura]

The fact that current FTX CEO John J. Ray III effectively said that Michael’s book offers nothing of worth in helping understand what happened at FTX is pretty telling. The contrast between the details emerging at the trial and Michael Lewis’ assertions, is astounding! This makes me look at all his other books in a new light.

[@tiararoxeanne1318]

The book is intended as a character observation, not an investigation journalism. Of course it doesn't help much with the investigation. It's like using a fork to eat soup. Wrong tool.

[@jacobtaylor7506]

Blindside, that is a book that really needs to be looked at again.

[@seanwebb605]

Lewis never had the opportunity to do a forensic audit.

[@Sarah-re7cg]

@@tiararoxeanne1318right. And Lewis got the character completely wrong.

[@kronik658]

Michael also has a strong dislike for John Ray in his book. It's wild that he is more critical of John Ray then he is of SBF himself.

[@julius5256]

I never had a favorite author until I came across Michael Lewis. But as soon as I thought of him as my favorite author, the revelation about the blind side surfaced and now this book. Which seems to be telling a story that is so wildly different to that story that was shown in court that it seems like a PR stunt instead of uncovering the real story I really don’t know what to think right now

[@GEB-yy3ud]

Michael Lewis's new book 'Poo is not smelly.'

[@studentoflife3140]

I'd like to see the payments to Michael Lewis from Sam Bankman Fried

[@watcherofthewest8597]

I see this, and I think, I can anyone trust anything Lewis has ever written if his story about ftx and SBF is so delusional and plain inaccurate? Also, 10 minutes into this video, I couldn't tell you one thing of substance Lewis said.

[@StuartConsulting]

I don’t want to gloat, but he was blessed with intelligent parents, good education, some somehow made billions, and ended up shitfaced facing jail

[@marcot8549]

I'm curious... How much did Lewis sell his legacy out to Sam for?

[@seanwebb605]

Give your head a shake.

[@pimpingkek4947]

This was a banger. If someone finds the second half, please reply, so everyone can see it.

[@SuperPussyFinger]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnKnla1-eKydeassi=dUdS9POa_W73vqbt

[@nccamsc]

SBF makes for a good story, that’s what ML needs. He needed a character, he said it at the very beginning.

[@chuckwes8903]

Sam's genius lies in selling the Kool -Aid with a twist... Just listen to this Dude. He's all in.

[@marybusch6182]

Exactly! A con par excellence.

[@davidbentley4731]

I think the reason that Michael has a blind spot here is that he has spent most of his life investigating the underbelly of Wall Street. So I think he cuts SBF more slack than he deserves. He’s just as much of a scanner as all those other sheisters he writes about.

[@steveperreira5850]

Joo Foo Loo (The Jew fooled Lewis) … I’m pretty sure my three year old granddaughter with fool him just as easily

[@steveperreira5850]

In this episode it is the square root of intelligence

[@Sarah-re7cg]

I loved the big short. I’m curious how in the hell this happened and now I’m questioning how much work Lewis put into the big short because how is this coming about?

[@Sarah-re7cg]

I feel like Michael Lewis makes sense of the world by stereotyping people like it’s a bad 1980s sitcom

[@greggernetzke9014]

SBF made this guy into such a rube I’m not sure I buy any of this work anymore lol

[@seanwebb605]

The cover of my dust jacket is much different on the outside, but I opened it up to see the organization chart on the inside.

[@NancyLebovitz]

I assume Lewis will write another book. The organizational chart is just too good.

[@BanTheBBCHD]

"I don't know where this is all going to end up" - Was in prison for FRAUD on your bingo card Michael?

[@thomasclark631]

Clearly, SBF thinks he’s a politician.

[@Trollbot007]

I think they all make up a personality to make them look weird. One is claiming to have Asperger’s syndrome.

[@itzhakbentov6572]

Hey Michael Lewis..SBF’s mom must be a very special Ethics Professor

[@DonnaShaw-vf4hb]

Giving is good. More people should be giving.

[@danielosullivan2677]

Such a bad take on this situation

[@FizzleFX]

The cover being a roadmap os delightful

[@behrouzvossoughi5465]

Lewis' story is pure fiction......basically a script for a thriller movie......has nothing to do with SBF or with reality

[@Sarah-re7cg]

Someone please write a book about Michael Lewis writing this book and title it “The Blind Spot”

[@gelzamangitzaman1482]

How much money did you take from sam to wtite this book.You are working as a or person of sam

[@jeroldpaquette9068]

It is easy to look smart and buy multi million dollar properties in the Bahamas when you steal the money- until you are caught. So let us see if he is convicted. therefore, Watch out for those persons who do not or give inappropriate response to stimuli.

[@ObsidianLife]

It is very odd to watch all these boomers (meaning 70 year olds) refuse to admit they've been conned...

[@Sarah-re7cg]

28:10…shouldn’t that book be considered idk, evidence?

[@qdlaty23]

Lewis used to be one of my favourite writers but I had to do a 180 after his insane defence of SBF It was hard to watch and made me question the accuracy of every single book of his that I had read. Never reading anything of his ever again. What a joke.

[@sommi888]

❤💛💚💙 Wow! SBF is totally innocent! He's being unfairly trialled in court. LET HIM GO for free!! Definitely a great idea! There was no wrongdoing here!

[@parallelThreads]

It's fascinating that noone seems to recognize that Bankman Fried is autistic. In interview after interview, commentators marvel at Bankman's indifference toward fashion conventions, his lack of eye contact, apparent difficulty expressing and interpreting facial expressions, history of social isolation, and abstract mathematical talent. These commentators seem to find Bankman inscrutable. Yet, every one of these traits are typical of people with high functioning autism. As a person with high functioning autism, I've been frustrated and dismayed at this apparent lack of social awareness and recognition, and I worry that this failure to recognize Bankman's autism has unfairly biased the public against him. I'm not claiming that the facts against him are not damning. I'm pointing out the way that non-autistic people wrongly interpret his body language, facial expressions, and tone as evidence against him. Non-autistic people unconsciously rely on nonverbal cues to detect sympathy, emotional sincerity, and honesty. They look for eye contact, posture, subtle facial expressions, and tonal shifts to determine whether or not someone is lying and to decipher their emotions. Bankman, as an autistic person is has difficulty producing these behaviors. Unaware of this, people wrongly assume that he is lying, is unsympathetic, and, therefore, must have been guilty of intentional fraud. Autistic people are overrepresented in engineering and mathematics. Many tech celebrities such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk are also autistic. I myself work in tech (I designed computer processors). Mild autism correlates with having a mind that is good with numbers and abstract reasoning, but consistently it coincides with social impairments. Those of us with this trait have to exert significant effort to learn and adapt to non-autistic people (I could relate to the story of Bankman practicing smiling), yet we have much to contribute when given the chance. In cases like these, where someone is accused of a major crime, justice requires that they be given a fair trial - that they be heard out, and given a chance to tell their side of the story. In this case, that requires taking a moment to understand the autistic perspective and see past these impairments.

[@tomasgomez9925]

I have Aspergers and agree with you at a 100% When I looked at some of his videos, the way he speaks, expresses himself, his movements, language, etc etc. I saw it immediately. Not “normal” for the average person. Nonetheless, he clearly did very wrong and that has consequences. He is paying for those actions and must be having a horrible time right now. Specially with anxiety.

[@csp103]

The Sam Bankman-Fried character Michael describes definitely has characteristics of sociopathy or even psychopathy - care should be taken not to idolize such dreck.

[@Exar_Kun]

I wonder if Michael Lewis has a “soft spot” for sbf, after they spent a substantial amount of time together, and might see sbf as a “surrogate son” especially since Michael Lewis tragically lost his daughter in an accident a couple years ago. Not saying Michael Lewis is right but just speculating if maybe that played a part on how he views sbf.

[@davidcostley8260]

Michael has a bromance

[@snowonmars3520]

Posting 30 minutes online Full convo on the website What

[@kadirs377]

I regret buying his book

[@CryptoClaimsPro]

It’s a very painful listen and it didn’t cost him $5bn to buy Michael

[@ipsizm9265]

I always learn something listening to this man

[@stephenvangogh1]

Someone else is gonna have to write the movie version.

[@foodieworld8833]

Michael Michael, you got to be serious!

[@mikimarkos4696]

nerds are fascinating 😂😂 One cant't talk, the other one doesn't have facial expressions

[@sandworm9528]

Everyone's commenting but noone read the book, its a good read and explains why Michael seems "chipper" about sbf, It really is about HOW sam committed financial fraud, its pretty clear in the book hes guilty, but also why sam doesn't think of himself as a scammer

[@darrengregory6878]

I agree... Maybe the book paints SBF as being more naive than he actually is but no one gets a pass including Ray who everyone seems to think he eats financial criminals and shits justice money. My impression after reading the book is that SBF is a criminal for making odds on illegal activities until they could be righted with money and/or political pull and having zero empathy for the damage he's caused while playing the victim.

[@jdonohue17]

I agree with this, I also read the whole book and I think Lewis' enthusiasm for talking about SBF and what happened should not be mistaken for his enthusiasm for an interesting subject and evaluation of the finance world (which Lewis is far more familiar with than likely most people in the comments are). He is not a stupid man, he is thorough and chose to tell a compelling story about the person rather than the crime or the criminal.

[@back2d_lobby]

He "thought it was bs and could all fall apart" but neglected risk management. An exchange's only job is to not lose customer deposits. Idiot-savant.

[@winonebud]

This is a fascinatingly tone deaf interview. It's like they have no moral compass, whatsoever, and it's not even questioned.

[@apollothirteen9236]

Free SBF! No justice, no peace!

[@djmartens123]

There is no such thing as "effective altruism". Might as well call it "trickle down altruism". Completely ridiculous premise to begin with.

[@TheGppablo]

Michael Lewis new book is going to be on how to squander somebody´s reputation

[@PeterWilliamson-nn9et]

dogcoin, spacefit, ,don’t think SBF was the only one, doing these pump and dumps

[@sirmadam8183]

Socially awkward and isolated: I think he means he is autistic. Prob has aspergers.

[@victorybeginsinthegarden]

No that persona is fake

[@tomasgomez9925]

Sam definitely has a “tik” somewhere. Could be Aspergers, but definitely has something. He isn’t “normal” for sure. I would LOVE to see an actual psychologist talking about him and some of the stuff he does and how he behaves.

[@johndeere3486]

Lewis sat next to Sam and “didn’t see a thing” while any rationale person could look at a currency backed by ‘who can waste the most CPU cycles the fastest’ was a scam And he’s on intelligence squared … truly ridiculous

[@wwspic36]

Boy has he drunk the Kool-Aid!

[@tomknoll796]

It's rather amazing to me to see how many people making comments here, watch this and jump to the erroneous conclusion that Lewis is some kind of an apologist for SBF....Lewis is quite clear about his views that SBF has ended up exactly where he belongs.....smh

[@bethburn3237]

Notice you are the only person saying that? He repeatedly mused why, if bankruptcy attorneys can salvage the money and investors are made whole, should he be fully prosecuted for the money that investors will eventually get back. He went to write a book with Sam as hero and couldn’t shift when it was clear to everybody Sam was a fraudster.

[@seanwebb605]

@@bethburn3237 That's a gross misrepresentation of what he has written in the book and said publicly.

[@seanwebb605]

They're absolutely mad but feel validated as the mob grows bigger.

[@jimgrant4578]

Lewis also wrote "The Blind Side," which the movie is based on. Once he decides who his heroes are going to be, he doesn't let pesky facts get in the way.

[@seanwebb605]

That's such nonsense.

[@wendymiller3364]

This author drank the kool-aid 😂

[@charleslewis6815]

A fool and his money are soon parted..😊

[@MowFaux]

over easy egg well done

[@brucekellett440]

wow, I watched this video after reading the comments and all I can say is don't judge a book by its cover. Very entertaining video which explains how something like this keeps on happening...

[@kshitijgupta4504]

Hubris

[@hudaa.ebrahim532]

All this time and effort to talk about this fraud!!

[@steveperreira5850]

Joo Foo Yoo Loo!

[@sTL45oUw]

I don't like this attempt to get me to go somewhere else

[@usaintltrade]

G🎉

[@patrickmaloney7296]

This dude drank all the Flavour-Aid

[@jstohler]

Lewis drank all the Koolaid.

[@bettycattk5298]

Any psychologist worth his/her education would know almost immediately that he is a psychopath!!!!

[@Thecaptainblackadder]

Key criteria for hiring for traders position at Investment banks is the ability to thrive under chaos. Psychopaths do well under chaos where everyone else is frozen. That explains the number of psychopaths who get elevated in these places.

[@exponentmantissa5598]

How much is Lewis being paid? This is pure fiction that he is peddling.

[@seanwebb605]

You're enjoying conspiracy theories.

[@FPOAK]

Michael Lewis is always interesting to listen to. Even when sitting next to a host doing her best to knock him off every train of thought

[@venericanone]

Very interesting how much he's still shilling for the con man

[@FPOAK]

@@venericanone Can you give a quoted example? I’m not saying he’s irreproachable, but it sure seems like the internet’s eagerness to repeat the Current Population Opinion is outpacing the number of people who have read the book

[@venericanone]

@@FPOAK you actually think SBF isn't a con man?

[@scrubbwhite291]

Lewis is a front man for SBF. All his good comments about Sam are ridiculous.

[@seanwebb605]

Bull.

[@jeanmorse3412]

Poor Lewis.. Scammed by the Best, Good ole Scam Sam.

[@victorybeginsinthegarden]

Not the best. He was already in jail before the book was finished lol

[@myrnatan8720]

Michael Lewis is delusional

[@seanwebb605]

You're projecting.

[@kurtrambus2728]

Take your money and disappear hack.

[@seanwebb605]

Get over yourself.

[@steve-from-toronto]

Sadly, Lewis is being revealed as a puffery artist full of big proclamations that sound good but are pure fantasy. Another Malcolm Gladwell.

[@seanwebb605]

You have serious problems.

[@markdittbenner9949]

Fascinating..

[@danielhutchinson7073]

You got played, Lewis. You got conned.

[@csxcobracsxcobra334]

AFTER LEWIS DOES 5 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON, WE WILL GET THE TRUTH.....................HE CAN WRITE A BOOK ABOUT IT.

[@camd5348]

I have always like Lewis's books. Unfortunately he seems either to be a fan boy or he was paid off. Almost nothing of what he says is true at all. Then there is the blindside. Lewis might as well be a fraudster.

[@AndreAnyone]

Boycott Michael Lewis for the rest of my life

[@seanwebb605]

I'm guessing that the writing is too complicated for you anyway.

[@AndreAnyone]

@seanwebb605 aww did I insult your boyfriend? You little beta male c u mm guzzler lol 😆 😜 yo mad bro?

[@AndreAnyone]

@@seanwebb605 lol beta male, did I hurt your feelings? Drink another glass of Soy Milk lol