Apple Studios and A24 are now in early developments on a film about Sam Bankman-Fried. Variety reports that the film will be adapted from Michael Lewis’ book Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon. Lena Dunham is also attached to the script.
The book Going Infinite dives deeper into Bankman-Fried’s ascension and his “qually spectacular implosion of the cryptocurrency exchange and hedge fund FTX.” The book was originally released in October 2023 and became the New York Time bestseller. The official synopsis of the book reads, “When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own―until it all came undone.”
Bankman-Fried founded FTX in 2019 and the company skyrocketed to becoming one of the biggest and most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The company received high-profile endorsements from the likes of Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Naomi Osaka, Bill Clinton and more. In 2022, it was discovered that FTX lost billions of dollars after a large number of customers attempted to withdraw their money all at once. Bankman-Fried was indicted and convicted of charges on multiple counts of fraud and money laundering.
