{"id":23696,"date":"2023-10-02T07:13:59","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T07:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/investing\/the-5-weirdest-sam-bankman-fried-stories-michael-lewis-told-to-60-minutes\/"},"modified":"2023-10-02T07:14:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T07:14:01","slug":"the-5-weirdest-sam-bankman-fried-stories-michael-lewis-told-to-60-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/?p=23696","title":{"rendered":"The 5 weirdest Sam Bankman-Fried stories Michael Lewis told to \u201960 Minutes\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Say what you will about author Michael Lewis, but he does have a knack for finding interesting characters to write about.<\/p>\n

The latest is Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of failed crypto exchange FTX who\u2019s accused of running \u201cone of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.\u201d Lewis\u2019s latest book, \u201cGoing Infinite,\u201d follows the rise and fall of the man known as SBF, and comes out Tuesday \u2014 the same day Bankman-Fried\u2019s trial starts in federal court in New York City.<\/p>\n

\n

CBS\u2019s \u201c60 Minutes\u201d aired an interview with Lewis on Sunday night, in which Lewis delved deep into Bankman-Fried\u2019s history and psyche, and revealed juicy tidbits from the book, which he compiled from meeting with SBF more than 100 times over two years. Here are five of the weirdest stories about Bankman-Fried that he told \u201c60 Minutes\u201d:<\/p>\n

SBF played a videogame during his first TV interview<\/h2>\n

Lewis said that during Bankman-Fried\u2019s very first TV appearance, when FTX was gaining notoriety, he was playing a videogame through it all. \u201cIf you watch the clip you can see his eyes going back and forth, back (laughs) and forth. It\u2019s because he\u2019s trying to win his videogame at the same time he\u2019s on the air,\u201d Lewis said, according to a CBS News transcript.<\/p>\n

The fashion icon vs. the schlub<\/h2>\n

In perhaps the most fish-out-of-water story ever, Lewis said Vogue editor-in-chief and fashion icon Anna Wintour wanted Bankman-Fried \u2014 who rarely wore anything other than shorts and a T-shirt and who Lewis called \u201cthe worst-dressed person in America\u2026 the worst-dressed billionaire in the history of billionaires\u201d \u2014 to sponsor the swanky Met Gala. \u201cSam was a social experiment,\u201d Lewis said. He had \u201cseemingly infinite dollars\u201d and was willing to give it away. \u201cEverybody comes to the trough,\u201d Lewis said, adding that when Bankman-Fried took a Zoom meeting with Wintour, he had no idea who she was.<\/p>\n

SBF and Tom Brady were buddies. For real.<\/h2>\n

Lewis said Bankman-Fried paid athletes and celebrities ridiculous amounts of money for endorsements, including $55 million to now-former NFL quarterback Tom Brady for \u201c20 hours a year for three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprisingly \u2014 or perhaps not, given the $55 million \u2014 Brady \u201cadored him,\u201d Lewis said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think Tom Brady thought he was just a really interesting person. I think he liked to hear what he had to say,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cAnd he really liked Tom Brady. And Sam wasn\u2019t, like, a big sports person\u2026 The nerd of all nerds. (laughs) Like, even the nerds don\u2019t hang out with this nerd, he\u2019s such a nerd. (laughs) The quarterback somehow likes him. And he somehow likes the quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

FTX\u2019s collapse and the subsequent fraud charges apparently changed Brady\u2019s mind. \u201cBrady was, I think, crushed,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cAnd I think as time has gone by, and he\u2019s ceased to get a really good explanation about what\u2019s happened \u2014 I think he\u2019s just like, \u2018He tricked me. I\u2019m angry. I don\u2019t wanna have anything to do with it anymore.’\u201d<\/p>\n

SBF wanted to pay Trump not to run<\/h2>\n

Bankman-Fried has donated many millions of dollars to both Republicans and Democrats, but he was so worried about Donald Trump \u2014 who he considered a threat to democracy \u2014 that he considered paying Trump not to run for president in 2024, Lewis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam\u2019s thinking, \u2018We could pay Donald Trump not to run for president. Like, how much would it take?’\u201d Lewis said. \u201cSo he did get an answer. He was floated \u2014 there was a number that was kicking around. And the number that was kicking around when I was talking to Sam about this was $5 billion, Sam was not sure that number came directly from Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those talks never went anywhere, obviously, and Bankman-Fried was unsure about the legality of paying Trump not to run, Lewis said. But those discussions reportedly stopped when FTX collapsed and Bankman-Fried lost almost his entire fortune.<\/p>\n

Jail wouldn\u2019t be so bad, if\u2026<\/h2>\n

Bankman-Fried faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted on a multitude of federal fraud and conspiracy charges. When asked what Bankman-Fried fears most about potentially being imprisoned, Lewis had a surprising answer: \u201cNot having the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that sounds crazy, but I do think that if he had the internet, he could survive jail forever,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cWithout having a constant stream of information to react to \u2014 I think he may go mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis added that if given the choice of living in a $39 million penthouse in the Bahamas without internet, or be in jail but with internet access, \u201cthere\u2019s no question in my mind he\u2019d take the jail.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Say what you will about author Michael Lewis, but he does have a knack for finding interesting characters to write about. The latest is Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of failed crypto exchange FTX who\u2019s accused of running \u201cone of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.\u201d Lewis\u2019s latest book, \u201cGoing Infinite,\u201d follows the rise and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing"},"yoast_head":"\nThe 5 weirdest Sam Bankman-Fried stories Michael Lewis told to \u201960 Minutes\u2019 | Micro Loan Nexus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Say what you will about author Michael Lewis, but he does have a knack for finding interesting characters to write about. 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