Sam Bankman-Fried was using ‘Big Short’ author Michael Lewis as a sounding board for ideas — like buying Twitter with Elon Musk
Michael M. Santiago and Chesnot
Michael Lewis’ book on the rise and fall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX is set to be published on Tuesday.
“The Big Short” author told CBS’ “60 Minutes” SBF used him as a sounding board for ideas, including buying Twitter with Elon Musk.
Lewis said his answer to most of Bankman-Fried’s ideas was no.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, used “The Big Short” author Michael Lewis as a sounding board for ideas — including one about acquiring Twitter.
That’s according to Lewis, who was speaking to CBS’ “60 Minutes” about his upcoming book on cryptocurrency exchange cofounder, “Going Infinite.”
Lewis told CBS that Bankman-Fried came to him for advice on a variety of ideas.
When asked for details, Lewis said, “For just, like, decisions he was making. Should I join Elon Musk in buying Twitter? You know? Should we do this? Should we do that?”
“Mostly, my answers were no, no, and no. And he would look at me and say, ‘You’re a boring grownup.'” Lewis added.
For context, Bankman-Fried’s interest in acquiring Twitter with Musk appears to have gone past the ideation stage.
Text exchanges from March last year revealed that philosopher Will MacAskill — an advisor to Bankman-Fried — relayed his interest to Elon Musk and tried to set up a meeting between the two. The text messages were part of the discovery process in Musk’s court battle with Twitter.
In April last year, Musk’s former partner Grimes texted Musk that Bankman-Fried would be willing to contribute up to $5 billion to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.
FTX and Bankman-Fried were not listed as investors in Musk’s funding deal to acquire the social media company.
Bankman-Fried currently faces charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering — which he has pled not guilty to. His trial is due to begin on Tuesday, the same day that Lewis’ book hits store shelves. The former FTX CEO had his bail revoked in August over alleged witness tampering.
Prior to his dramatic fall from grace, Bankman-Fried was once among the biggest names in crypto, with a net worth of $26.5 billion in 2021 according to Forbes.
A representative for Bankman-Fried declined to comment to Insider. Elon Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.