In his new book on the cyrpto mogul, Michael Lewis has a strong message for critics, who contend that he's too sympathetic to Sam Bankman-Fried.
Lewis said he is crazy, and said, 'Re crazy,' when he told ABC News that he would be fired in a few months. Lewis met with Sam Bankman-Fried more than a hundred times during two years while writing the book about the FTX cofounder and former CEO.
The author has faced criticism for comments made while promoting his book, including his remarks to CBS's 60 Minutes that FTX wasn't a Ponzi scheme.
They'd still be sitting there making tons of money if it was a run on customer deposits, Lewis said.
Lewis told the interview that FTX's business did not fit the definition of a Ponzi scheme, which pays existing investors from funds from new investors. He added that FTX had two important businesses - the Alameda Research hedge fund and FTX's exchange business.
Even so, Lewis acknowledged there was harm done to investors - and he is including himself in that list.
He said he is a creditor too. ''S mixed up in there,'' Lewis said without elaborating further. A filing listing out FTX's creditors did not include Lewis' name, and Insider could not independently verify the information.
A Lewis spokeswoman declined to immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Lewis' book was released Tuesday - the same day Bankman-Fried's criminal fraud trial started.
Bankman-Fried faces charges of fraud and conspiracy relating to FTX's collapse in the ongoing trial. He has pleaded not guilty to the crime.
The crypto exchange FTX, worth $32 billion in early 2022, filed for bankruptcy on November 11 of the same year after a weeklong liquidity crisis.