Going Infinite

Book summary

Michael Lewis is an investigative journalist and author who has published fifteen nonfiction books, eight of which were national best sellers in the United States. In 2011, Lewis’s book Moneyball was turned into a major film starring Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

After leaving Jane Street Capital with a significant bonus, Sam Bankman-Fried pursued his growing interest in cryptocurrency, a rapidly expanding market that intrigued him for its independence from traditional financial systems. By 2017, the crypto market’s value had surged to $760 billion, prompting him to establish Alameda Research, a crypto-focused trading firm, and later FTX, the first crypto futures exchange, in Hong Kong. While FTX achieved global success, creating its own cryptocurrency, FTT, and generating substantial profits, internal issues plagued the company. Bankman-Fried’s leadership style was disorganized, marked by unclear roles, a lack of a CFO, and personal distractions, including a secret relationship with Alameda’s CEO, Caroline Ellison. Despite FTX’s $1 billion revenue in 2021 and a move to the Bahamas, questions about Bankman-Fried’s character persisted, as even those closest to him struggled to define him. Known for his unconventional upbringing, intellectual curiosity, and utilitarian ideals, he sought to align wealth with altruistic goals. However, his downfall began in late 2022, when reports exposed troubling ties between Alameda and FTX, revealing risky asset entanglements and raising suspicions of improper financial practices, setting the stage for a looming crisis.

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