Guilty! Sam Bankman-Fried & the FTX Collapse - With Michael Lewis

If you don’t know about his most recent book ‘Going Infinite’, you’ll probably want to buy it after listening to or watching this episode with Michael Lewis, author of multiple books and associated films, including 'The Big Short', 'Moneyball', 'Flash Boys', 'The Blind Side', 'Liars’ Poker', and more.
In this interview with co-host Ravi Joseph, we start out with Liar’s Poker and the wild west of the Salomon Brothers trading floor. Then, picking up from where we left off from our interview 18 months earlier, we probe why Michael had suggested that crypto might be his next subject.
He describes the ascent and collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried. We hear how despite writing that “everything about him [SBF] was peculiar”, Sam develops a magnetism that attracts politicians, celebrities, and financiers alike.
Michael describes the fault lines, the failings and even feedback from speaking to him recently in prison, awaiting sentence. A fantastical tale and fabulously fun conversation.
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TOPICS:
00:00 - Introduction
00:53 - Michael’s Time at Salomon Brothers
03:14 - Liar’s Poker (1989)
06:35 - Going Infinite (2023)
11:23 - Sam Bankman-Fried’s Background
16:49 - Sam’s Early Career
20:24 - Sam’s Unique Character
30:30 - Michael’s Thoughts on Crypto
32:48 - A Crime of Incompetence or Harm?
38:48 - Almada & FTX Deposit Segregation
42:42 - Was the Bankruptcy Inevitable?
50:49 - Sam’s Life in Prison
56:01 - Closing Questions
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DISCLAIMER
All content on the Money Maze Podcast is for your general information and use only and is not intended to address your particular requirements. In particular, the content does not constitute any form of advice, recommendation, representation, endorsement or arrangement and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any specific investment or other decisions. Guests and presenters may have positions in any of the investments discussed.

[@BanTheBBCHD]

"Someone who had nothing to hide" "So he wasn't just full of it". Yes, he did and he really was. Of all the people who were defrauded, conned and completely fooled by Samuel Bankman-Fried, Michael Lewis is at the top of the list.

[@mikehoffman5130]

45:00 Doesn't seem logical that one entity can use a loss to offset a gain in another entity.

[@jayspeidell]

Michael Lewis is prepping for a speaking tour with Tony Robinson and Robert Kiyosaki to pitch Amway. How the mighty have fallen lol

[@user-uc7lr6hm7p]

Michael Lewis is a con man

[@seanwebb605]

I'm worried. Michael Lewis has often done interviews like this for online platforms from his home office. Now he's doing them from a kitchen that looks like the kind of apartment a recently separated man rents while going through a divorce.

[@user-uc7lr6hm7p]

Michael Lewis is a con man

[@QveenXsiren]

LA

[@seanwebb605]

@@QveenXsiren BA?

[@QveenXsiren]

@@seanwebb605 indeed

[@pierrechaput9367]

Very good interview. Very good podcast. Thanks gents for the job

[@moneymazepodcast]

Thank you so much!

[@katejones9046]

I think Michael Lewis is still drinking the kool-aid. The quote of a "Sam shaped hole in the world" has been used a few too many times. He is the only creditor that seems to think that he'll get his entire FTX claim back with interest. I stopped listening when I heard the "careless, misplaced money/victimless crime". This was filmed in December 2023.

[@UnknownPascal-sc2nk]

When you buy crypto, what are you buying other than an early position in a ponzi scheme? You're not investing in anything that makes anything or provides a service. This discussion doesn't mention the enormous carbon pollution generated which only adds to the financial crimes.

[@noyopacific]

Crypto does have some similar aspects to a Ponzi scheme but it also has some essential differences. Most glaringly crypto does not promise a guaranteed (or implied) return that is supposed to come from operating profits but actually is paid from the pool of investor capital. Crypto is basically a speculative gamble that someone, for whatever reason, might pay more for it than you paid. The FSX-Alameda swindle also was significantly different than the typical Ponzi scheme. While neither is less a crime it could be misleading to equate the two.

[@sanshaj]

Sam’s clearly on the spectrum but has an extremely high iq, which is throwing Michael off being able to see it as ASD. Sam has empathy and feelings, they just manifest very differently due to his ASD.

[@user-uc7lr6hm7p]

Michael Lewis is a con man

[@WW-on6bo]

P.S. when the S.E.C. finalizes crypto regulation as an Act of law it should settle this tulip mania Ponzi scheme. The end.

[@QveenXsiren]

Michael can we chat??