2023-12-14
1 小时 0 分钟Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he went too easy on S.B.F. Lewis tells us why the critics are wrong — and what it’s like to watch your book get turned into a courtroom drama.
I feel like as much as Sam Bankman Fried has been in the center of a vortex, that you're close to the center as well.
Can you just tell me what your life has been like the past couple months?
Surprisingly controversial.
This material just landed in my lap, and I really did think when I was writing it, I never had more fun writing a book than I had writing this one.
I knew that some people were going to be a little bit upset with the book, but I got big.
Basically, it was gonna be taken as a thrill ride, and it would just be a fun read for everybody.
What I wasn't prepared for was just the sheer volume of the anger.
Michael Lewis is one of the most popular nonfiction authors on the planet.
His books include Liar's Poker, Moneyball, the Big Short, Flash Boys, and now going infinite.
The rise and fall of a new tycoon.
The tycoon in question is Sam Bankmanfried, who was briefly everyone's favorite cryptocurrency billionaire.
And Michael Lewis rode shotgun for some of the rise and most of the fall.
The fall was fast and hard.
Bankman Freed was recently convicted of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in a New York courtroom.
The controversy comes from people who argue that Michael Lewis went soft on Bankman Fried instead of blasting him as a crook and a cheat.
Here is how a New York Times review put it.
Lewis had, in the months leading up to the disaster, a front row seat from which he could apparently see nothing.
It troubles me that people want to put Sam Bankman fried into a simple box and put him on a shelf and not think too much more about this.
Why?
It troubles you.