• Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short, spent several hours with Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the now-collapsed FTX crypto exchange, who is currently under house arrest in California.
• It has led to speculation that the famed author might be looking to write a book based on Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of his cryptocurrency firm FTX.
• Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas earlier this month after US prosecutors formally filed criminal charges against him.
Michael Lewis, the renowned author of the bestseller The Big Short, has recently spent several hours with Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the now-collapsed FTX crypto exchange, who is currently under house arrest in California.
The visit has sparked speculation that the famed author might be looking to write a book based on Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of his cryptocurrency firm FTX. Lewis is renowned for his ability to document and narrate complex issues in a way that is accessible to a wide range of readers.
FTX, once the third-largest crypto exchange in the world, filed for bankruptcy on November 11. It was later revealed that the exchange, which had earned a reputation as crypto’s bail-out king during the recent crypto meltdown, was plagued with a $9.4 billion hole left by fund mismanagement.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas earlier this month after US prosecutors formally filed criminal charges against him. After an uncertain week, the crypto boss was eventually extradited to the US to face a litany of criminal charges.
The Southern District of New York, which is investigating Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX and its sister trading firm Alameda, indicted SBF on eight criminal charges including wire fraud and conspiracy by misusing customer funds. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged SBF with “orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX”.
The potential book by Lewis would be the latest in a series of high-profile accounts of the FTX story. Last month, the Wall Street Journal published an article on Bankman-Fried’s rise and fall. The Financial Times also published an article about Bankman-Fried’s legal woes.
The visit between Lewis and Bankman-Fried is notable for its timing. Bankman-Fried is still in the early stages of his legal battles and any revelations from a book by Lewis could have a major impact on the outcome of the case.
As a widely respected author, Lewis’s potential book on Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX would likely be met with great interest from both the crypto and traditional finance communities. It remains to be seen if Lewis actually decides to pursue the project and if the resulting book will be a success.