When Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) needed a Bahamas compound, he hired Alfia White and Ian Rosenfield. Neither had ever designed an office building, but they were given a budget of $250-300 million and the direction: “You’re the architects. I don’t have any idea.” Rosenfield was actually an old classmate of SBF’s. He was surprised to learn the kid who in high school had almost no friends, used a rolling backpack, and lived for math camp had become one of the richest people in the world. When Bankman-Fried arrived for the groundbreaking ceremony with cargo shorts, a wrinkled T-shirt, and droopy white socks, Rosenfield realized, “Same guy.”
Michael Lewis’ latest book, “Going Infinite,” contains all sorts of these behind-the-scenes moments that show how a kid went from nothing to billionaire and back again without ever really growing up. Lewis hopes his book, which came out the same day Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial began, will tell a better story than the one the lawyers tell in the courtroom. SBF stands accused of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in connection with the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX, with prosecutors alleging he stole billions from FTX customers and used them for personal reasons and to cover losses at his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.
His defense team, and Michael Lewis to some extent, present SBF as a math nerd who got in over his head. FTX was growing at an unimaginable pace, and he couldn’t keep up. Of course, there’s SBF’s profligate spending to
