Michael Lewis reveals his bizarre stories

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Michael Lewis reveals his bizarre stories

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, is accused of running one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.

What do you think of Michael Lewis, who has a talent for finding interesting characters to write about.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of failed Crypto exchange FTX, is accused of running one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.

Lewis's latest book, Going Infinite, followed the rise and fall of the man known as SBF, and comes out on October 3 - the same day Bankman-Fried's trial starts in a federal court in New York City.

CBS's TV programme 60 Minutes aired an interview with Lewis on the night of October, in which Lewis delved deep into Bankman-Fried's history and psyche, and revealed juicy tidbits from the book, which he compiled from meeting SBF more than 100 times over two years.

What are some of the weirdest stories about Bankman-Fried?

SBF played a video game during his first TV interview.

When Bankman-Fried's very first television appearance was gaining notoriety, Lewis said, he was playing a video game through it all. ''S because he's trying to win his video game at the same time he's on the air,'' Lewis said.

In perhaps the most fish-out-of-water story ever, Lewis said, Vogue editor-in-chief and fashion icon Anna Wintour wanted Bankman-Fried - who rarely wore anything other than shorts and a T-shirt and who Lewis called the worst-dressed person in America - to sponsor the swanky Met Gala. Lewis said he had no concerns about the economy and did not think it was a good investment. He had'seemingly infinite money' and was willing to give it away. Lewis said that when Bankman-Fried took a Zoom meeting with Wintour, he had no idea who she was.

Tom Brady and SBF were friends. Surprisingly - or perhaps not, given the $55 million, she said, Brady 'adored him'.

SBF wanted to pay Trump not to run for president.

Bankman-Fried has donated millions of dollars to both Republicans and Democrats, but he was so worried about Donald Trump - who he considered a threat to democracy - that he considers paying Trump not to run for president in 2024, Lewis said.

Those talks never went anywhere, obviously, and Brown said Bankman-Fried was unsure about the legality of paying Trump not to run. But those discussions reportedly stopped when FTX collapsed and Bankman-Fried lost almost his entire fortune.

Bankman-Fried faces more than 100 years in prison ifconvicted of a variety of federal fraud and conspiracy charges. When asked what Bankman-Fried fears most about potentially being imprisoned, Lewis had a surprising answer :

He added that if given the choice of living in a $39 million penthouse in the Bahamas without internet access, or being in jail but with internet access, there's no question in my mind he'd take the jail.