- Author Michael Lewis has spent the last six months embedded with Sam Bankman-Fried for an upcoming book, the Ankler reported.
- The email, sent by an agent from the Creative Artists Agency, said Lewis hasn't begun writing yet but "the story has become too big for us to wait."
Famed Wall Street and finance author Michael Lewis had been interviewing and traveling with Sam Bankman-Fried for the past six months, ahead of the shocking collapse of FTX last week, according to an agent's email obtained by the Hollywood newsletter The Ankler.
Lewis had quietly embedded himself with Bankman-Fried for an upcoming book about the 30-year-old crypto chief, but the developments of the past week — Alameda Research's suspect balance sheet, Binance walking away from an FTX takeover, and the resulting bankruptcy — have injected more urgency into the matter.
Matthew Snyder, a Creative Artists Agency agent, sent an email Friday to potential buyers, the Ankler reported.
"For the past six months or so, Michael Lewis has been traveling with and interviewing Sam Bankman-Fried," Snyder writes. "His childhood, early success on Wall Street, embrace of effective altruism and the creation of a crypto empire that catapulted him in record time into the ranks of the richest people in the world seemed more than sufficient for a signature Michael Lewis book."
Lewis has frequently written about finance, most notably in "The Big Short," "Liar's Poker," and "Flash Boys." He worked as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s before leaving Wall Street for writing.
"Of course, the events of the past week have provided a dramatic surprise ending to the story," Snyder continued. "It also highlighted the rivalry between Bankman-Fried and Binance head Changpeng Zhao. Michael likens them to the Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader of crypto. Michael hasn't written anything yet, but the story has become too big for us to wait."
Bankman-Fried's last several days alone make for a compelling series of events. Most recently, Reuters reported that as much as $2 billion of FTX customers' funds have vanished from the exchange, while the Financial Times reported that, the day before it imploded, the firm held $900 million in easy-to-sell assets but $9 billion in liabilities.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Justice Department are reportedly investigating FTX, and the SEC is also reportedly investigating Bankman-Fried himself.
Bankman-Fried was also interviewed over the weekend by the Bahamian police, which said it's scrutinizing any "criminal misconduct" at FTX.