Sam Bankman-Fried meets with The Big Short author Michael Lewis while on house arrest
Cashing in? Sam Bankman-Fried meets with writer who penned Hollywood blockbuster ‘The Big Short’ while holed up on house arrest on $250M bail – as parents cough up $10K-a-week for private security
- Author Michael Lewis reportedly visited Bankman-Fried on Friday
- Lewis is said to have been working on a book about the FTX founder for months
- But the implosion of FTX last month accelerated his plans for publication
- Meanwhile, heavy security surrounds home where Bankman-Fried is on bond
- His law professor parents reportedly paid $10,000 per week for private security
Author Michael Lewis, whose bestseller The Big Short was adapted into a Hollywood blockbuster, reportedly met with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in recent days at the California home where he is holed up awaiting trial.
Lewis, 62, met with Bankman-Fried for several hours on Friday at the $4 million home of the accused crypto fraudster’s parents, who are both Stanford University law professors, the New York Post reported citing sources.
Outside the home, barricades manned by private security guards seal off the residential street to keep curious onlookers at bay, an arrangement that is costing Bankman-Fried’s parents some $10,000 per week, according to the Post.
Lewis has reportedly been working on a book about Bankman-Fried for months, a project that was first revealed last month when the implosion of FTX accelerated his timeline for publication.
Prior to Bankman-Fried’s arrest on federal charges, Lewis reportedly spent six months shadowing the 30-year-old CEO, traveling with him and interviewing him extensively.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Court in New York on Thursday after he was released on a $250 million bond and ordered to detention in his parent’s California home
A team of security guards and the Stanford police guard a closed street barricade near the residence of Sam Bankman-Fried that prevents access to the Fried home on Monday
Author Michael Lewis, whose bestseller The Big Short was adapted into a Hollywood Blockbuster, reportedly met with Bankman-Fried at the home on Friday
The Ankler first reported that literary agent Michael Snyder informed his contacts that Lewis had six months’ worth of material on Bankman-Fried – who feuded in spectacular style with his mentor, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Zhao, head of the world’s largest bitcoin and crypto exchange, initially announced plans to rescue FTX, Bankman-Fried’s company, but then backed out, saying FTX was not stable.
Lewis likened the pair to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
‘Michael hasn’t written anything yet, but the story has become too big for us to wait,’ the agent said in his email, obtained by The Ankler.
Lewis’ previous books The Big Short, Moneyball and The Blind Side were all turned into Hollywood blockbusters.
It’s unclear whether Bankman-Fried would stand to benefit financially if Lewis’ upcoming book about him were turned into a movie.
Typically, studios do not have to pay to obtain life rights for public figures, especially if they option a work of non-fiction for adaptation.
Bankman-Fried’s parents Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman are both Stanford University law professors. They are seen above leaving court last week
The family is reportedly paying $10,000 per week for the private security patrols sealing off their residential street and keeping onlookers away
Disgraced FTX-founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be spending his house arrest at this five-bedroom home in the Bay Area after being released on $250million bond Thursday
However, even some convicted criminals have taken payouts from studios eager to avoid lawsuits. In one case, the con artist Anna Sorkin took $320,000 from Netflix for the rights to adapt her life story, though the funds reportedly went to pay restitution and fines.
Bankman-Fried has not been convicted of any crime, but is free on $250 million bail as he awaits trial on federal charges including wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance law violations.
In August, Lewis discussed in broad terms his upcoming book about Bankman-Fried in an interview with Financial News.
‘I really don’t want to reveal exactly what I’m writing about,’ he said.
‘But I found a character through whom I can write about — it weirdly links up Flash Boys, The Big Short and Liar’s Poker.
‘I guess it is possible it will be framed as a crypto book, but it won’t be a crypto book.
‘It’ll be about this really unusual character. You’ll learn all about crypto and you’ll learn about what screwed up market structure in the United States and so on.’
Sam Bankman-Fried is depicted in court on Thursday where he was granted $250million bail
FTX had a one-time valuation of $32 billion before collapsing in bankruptcy last month amid allegations that billions in client funds were siphoned off to prop up Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried, arrested in the Bahamas two weeks ago, was brought to the United States last week to face charges that he cheated FTX investors and looted customer deposits.
He was freed on a $250 million personal recognizance bond to live with his parents in Palo Alto, California, after an electronic monitoring bracelet was attached to him so authorities could track his whereabouts.
On Tuesday, the case was reassigned to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, after the judge originally assigned recused herself because her husband worked for a law firm that had once done work related to FTX.
Kaplan, 78, who has held senior status in Manhattan federal court for over a decade, was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994 and has a reputation as a non-nonsense jurist.
He has overseen numerous high-profile trials and is currently presiding over the two federal civil suits that former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll filed against former President Donald Trump.
Carroll said Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan luxury department store in 1995 or 1996. Trump has denied the accusations. A trial is scheduled for April.
The storied judge also was presiding over sex abuse claims by an American woman against Prince Andrew before the two sides settled earlier this year, with Andrew declaring that he never meant to malign her character and agreeing to donate to the woman’s charity. Prior to the settlement, Kaplan had refused Andrew’s request to toss the lawsuit.
Most recently, Kaplan presided over the civil trial of Kevin Spacey after a fellow actor accused him of trying to molest him in his apartment after a party when he was 14 and Spacey was 26.
A jury sided with Spacey, finding that actor Anthony Rapp had not proved his case against him.